Radiant Fantasy
by The Unknowing Herald
Summary: It's been one year since Ike left Tellius and the continent lives a confortable peace, one that is suddenly shattered as Daein falls without warning. Who are these attackers, and where has Ike's journey taken him? Time will tell. IkexElincia and others.
1. Trail of Blue Flame

******Author's note:**Some of you that came here from my other story have the right to be angry. "There's no way he can keep two stories going on an weekly basis." And you're right. This one won't be weekly. "An Unending Struggle" will continue to be weekly, don't worry. But this one will be released once every two weeks. This one (which I'll probably have to tweak the tittle), is the backup story. Why did I write this? Let's just say that when both Ike and Elincia got announced for Fire Emblem: Awakening. I pretty much went nuts and HAD to do a FE crossover, something I'd been meaning to do for a LOOONG time. Almost a year. See ya at the end of the chapter.

**PS:** Also, NO this will NOT have IkexTerra, that's a completely crack pairing. They'll be the protagonists, no more.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter One**

******Trail of Blue Flame**

* * *

"It's been a full year already…" A gorgeous emerald haired woman in her twenties told herself as she rode on her steed into a battalion. "Twelve months of following the trail he left behind…"

* * *

"Sir Ike… why are you leaving?" A slightly younger version of herself asked from the other side of a filled banquet table.

"Vell, you shee, I haf…" The muscular blue haired man fumbled as he tried to put three legs of chicken into his mouth, surprisingly succeeding. Honestly, if she hadn't known better she would imagine him dropping dead any minute now. One thing he had to distinguish him from the rest of the crowd was that he was the one of the two only ones with a casual garment code, everyone sitting on the table was dressed to their best possibilities. It was just like him, not caring about any "code".

"IKE!" A young teen shouted as she slammed her palm on the man's head. "No food while talking!" She demanded.

Shrugging, Ike slammed all the chicken legs into his mouth, pulling the three bones at once, now lacking any meat as he patted his stomach. This caused some of the nobles sitting beside the woman to groan in discomfort, I said some since the woman and the man sitting next to the emerald haired one just let out a hearty laugh at Ike's actions, they had seen it countless times before, the man with appetite of a dragon laguz.

"As I was saying…" He said in a more irritated tone, shooting a dirty look at his little sister. "I got nothing more to do here on Tellius. I mean, Elincia, let's be honest here, what work will a mercenary like me have now that the whole continent is completely at peace? Besides the crappy ones." The man did have a point there but that was hardly a reason to do what he was going to do, at least in Elincia's mind it was.

"That's hardly the reason to leave the continent for forever." She replied in a saddened tone. The man on her right cringed at the tone, but chose to keep calm, it was all going to be over after tonight.

"Hey now! I never said I would be leaving for good, now did I?" Ike countered, waving his hands in midair.

"Funny, whatever happened to the "Mature" Ike you said you would be two years ago?" A small, long haired man asked mockingly at Ike's reaction. "You seem to alternate from "all brawn Ike" to…"

"Finish that sentence Soren, and you'll know what "All brawn Ike" can do to your legs." The man threatened, standing up from his seat to reveal his 6'2 tall figure. A normal person would most likely jumped out the window if they saw a fully muscled man of that size threaten them, but Soren didn't even flinch.

"Getting defensive aren't we?" A man with light blue hair and cat ears asked from the other side of the table. "And I bet Nasir didn't cause your reaction this time." He pointed at the older man who was enjoying his meal a little to his right.

"Ranulf! Don't you start with that now!" Ike shouted, now threatening to ignore the table and just jump directly to the cat laguz.

"Ike, if you want to fight with them, please wait until you leave, they are your partners after all, you'll have all the time in the world to beat them down." A tall, seemingly middle aged red haired man said as he adjusted his regal gown. Ike nodded and sat back down, much to the relief of Elincia's council.

"You can be such a spoil sport Caineghis. My blood was starting to boil already!" The other man in casual garments said, disappointed. This black haired man covered his forehead with a red headband, used a thorn green coat that left his chest in the open, complete with coat tails, bandages on his forearms, a red sash extending from his golden buckled belt and a light, teal set of trouser. But that was hardly the distinguishable characteristic. He most importantly possessed spiked ears and a giant, majestic pair of brown wings, whose color was lighter on the edges, he was king of the Hawk laguz after all, it was common sense he presented such wings. In short he was badass, VERY badass.

"Tibarn, if you wish for a fight, I'd be more than happy to give one to you, just not today if it's possible." Caineghis replied with a smile on his face.

"I'll hold on to that Lion King!" The Hawk King growled in satisfaction as he pumped his fist in his direction.

"Such savages…" One of the nobles commented, he shouldn't have done that.

"What was that duke Solum?" The man on Elincia's right side asked.

"It's the truth, Geoffrey." Solum replied aggressively. The atmosphere inside the whole room was brought down that instant. These were the attitudes they had risked their lives to eliminate. They were coming back too soon.

"How unfortunate…" Elincia commented, standing up and looking at the older man with a stern look on her amber eyes. "Why don't you take your leave Duke? We will not tolerate racism on this castle. The maid will have your belongings delivered at your estate. I'm dispatching you as an ambassador to Phoenicis." She said, instantly shocking everyone present, ones for the better, and others for the worse.

"This is outrageous!" He exclaimed.

"It's the truth, Solum." Geoffrey mocked, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him towards the door.

"I'll be sure to have fun with you… puny beorc." Tibarn threatened as he saw the man was escorted out, screaming and wailing for "justice".

"Do not do anything drastic Hawk King." The short, blue haired woman besides Elincia asked of him.

"Don't worry your head Lucia, I'll just play with my food a little, not eat it." He said with a laugh. "Now, where were you Ike? I'm interested if you're going to return or not, because if you aren't, I want a fight, right here, tomorrow!" He exclaimed excitedly, his laguz blood yet again gaining the best of him.

"Calm down Tibarn! I don't plan on going away forever. I just have to find out… is there life beyond the continent? Are we alone or…?" He looked at his hand in deep thought.

"WOW! Ike's being philosophic? What has Ashera done to you?" Boyd shouted, being glared down by pretty much everyone.

"Boyd… Shut up… just shut up." Mist scolded, he obeying immediately.

"Uniting the world… is that what you want Ike?" Elincia asked.

"I don't know… I just FEEL I have to do this. Imagine the possibilities! I have to do something, and you obviously don't need my help on Crimea, look at how you handled this situation." He missed the obvious blush from the Queen at that point, just because he was Ike, he's dense. "And who needs any help really? Daein? They don't like me a lot. Begnion? They don't need help. Laguz lands never needed help. The only way for me to make a difference is to go! Nobody really needs me here anyway!"

"Well…" Elincia began, but lost her voice at the last moment.

"What?"

"N-nothing…"

"This is depressing…" Shinon commented, standing up from the table. "I have to get some air."

* * *

"My Queen?" A voice came from behind her, snapping her from her thoughts. "Elincia? Are you ready?" Geoffrey questioned.

"As ready as I can be…" She replied, still reminiscing. _"Ever since then, even though everything has been working out very well... we all feel it's just not the same. We don't feel safe without Ike, we don't feel that what we have now is our work, it's Ike's, and he's the only one not enjoying it... Maybe he's there, carving a new trail for us to follow, just like we are now. Where are you and what did you find?"_

"It's the first time we go to battle without Ike's looming presence isn't it?" Geoffrey asked, as painful as that was to him.

"We had that last stand at our castle." She replied, but even she knew she was wrong.

"Ike was in Crimea, don't deny you didn't go through the entirety of it expecting him to barge through the gate." He pointed out, to which Elincia nodded. "We all did. This is the first time where we can't hope for a shoulder where to fall. But that only makes your role more important! If you don't inspire our army, who shall?"

"That's true… and we can't let Ike down! He trusted us to maintain peace!" She exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.

"Good, now Elincia, rally the troops, our spy gave us thirty minutes as a limit. And Volke is trustworthy if you have the gold." Geoffrey said with a sense of urgency.

"I'll do my best." The Queen replied, whispering her Pegasus to fly. She waited until she was flying just above the bulk of the army and remembered that speech.

* * *

A nineteen year old Ike stood in front of the greatest army Crimea had ever conjured. It contained people from every nation, all united under the man-who-could. He was never a speech man, he was basically forced by Soren, Titania and his sister Mist to do it, so he did his best to stick with what his father taught him, him being a successful general and all.

"Um… hey there…" He stuttered before breathing hard and telling himself that he had to do this right. "Before this final battle there is only one thing I have to tell all of you… I don't want any of you dying on me!" He exclaimed as confidence began to build up inside him. "Remember—You only have one life! At times like this, it doesn't matter what our blood ties are. We are family!" Elincia clutched to her heart at that. "That's what my father always used to say. And today… for the first time… I understand why he said it. Because we ARE a family. So, if you don't want to cause your family any grief, then live! Don't drop your guard! Don't turn back! Our road has been long, but it ends today! Let's liberate Crimea and free our friends… our families… from Daein's tyranny!" He took a deep breath as he looked over the army which was soaking his every word, suspense and expectation nearly palpable. "Men of Crimea…" He said as he looked over the majority of the army. "Laguz of Tellius…" He continued as he looked at their improbable allies. "Greil Mercenaries…" He finished as he looked at the edge of the compound, joined were the people he grew up with, Mia who joined midway and then to his side where was his most trusted friend Soren and the woman which had changed his life with one contract. "**MOVE OUT!**" He shouted raising his holly sword up in the air as the field exploded with ovation. No doubts, no hesitations, only certainties of victory. The very speech Elincia had to mimic.

* * *

Elincia was there, sitting in her Pegasus as the confused and scared eyes of the hastily prepared army stared into her very soul. She needed to change that attitude. Ike's speech won the war, she had to do the same.

"Hear me, citizens of Tellius!" She began, gulping as their stares indicated that they were putting everything on her shoulders. "As you know, Daein's been struck by the full force of an unknown army, effectively bringing the proud country to its knees once again. Now, I know that many of you still hold a grudge against Daein, but it is time to let it go, we all know that they changed, they fought to change. The madmen behind Daein's tyranny are dead and the new queen is a dear friend of mine and a heroine in her own right. Now, are we to abandon the allies that returned life to Tellius?" The crowd was mostly unmoved with a few "nays" standing out but otherwise not much. Elincia persevered. "Furthermore, they now move to invade Crimea after their failed assault on Begnion, are we to stand and watch?" The lack of response infuriated her to no end. "What would Sir Ike say if he saw how you are her today? Have you forgotten what he told us? WE ARE A FAMILY! Blood ties don't matter, our nationality doesn't matter, our RACE doesn't matter, as long as we live in Tellius, as long as we can help each other and fight together, we are a family! Are you going to let your family down? Are you going to let a continent filled with your familiars get slaughtered? Are you going to betray Sir Ike's trust in us? He who entrusted the continent to us?" The sudden burst from the normally collected Queen caused the crowd to lit up, even if it was a little. "This bridge is the only gateway from Crimea to Daein, if we bring it down we cannot help them, but they are going to try and use it against us! Even if I have to bar their path with my dead body, they will not enter my… no OUR country! Now I ask you again, who among you is with me?" She shouted, now raising her sword just like Ike did almost five years ago. Much to her amazement, the reaction was almost identical to that day's. There was no shadow of doubt on their hearts, they had to do this.

"Elincia's grown." Renning commented, stroking his short beard as he saw the crowd rejoice.

"For you maybe, but I've gotten used to that Elincia. She grew overtime so I don't see the difference. Do you?" A dark purple haired woman with a katana stocked on the sheath of her long, two tailed orange dress asked.

"I see Ike taught you even to treat nobility as an equal Mia." The elder man replied.

"Aren't you?" She asked.

"True… True." Renning agreed.

"Still, even I have to agree, she's very strong-willed…. For a beorc of course." A man that could easily pass as a younger Caineghis pointed out as he landed forcefully on the floor next to them.

"If Renning AND you Skrimir agree… then what can I say?" Mia said, shrugging. "The match is still on though, isn't it? If Ike could beat your uncle then I HAVE to beat you!"

"You really are an eager one. To challenge the King of Beasts to a fight so rashly. I like it! You're just like me! I will honor your challenge."

"Great! Now let's get ready to kick some…"

"I can hear footsteps…" Skrimir finally said, his hair shining brightly as he lowered himself to four paws, in a flash of light transforming into a massive red lion laguz. "The fight is upon us!"

"I had hoped that Phoenicis and Kilvas' reinforcements had arrived, but I guess we'll have to go on without them…" Renning said, looking at Elincia and giving her a sign.

"Tellius' family… **TO BATTLE POSITIONS!"** She ordered, a large hurrah being heard from both Crimean's, Begnion's reinforcements, Gallia and the one lone person from Goldoa. "Generals, Marshalls, Tigers and Skrimir to the front! Halberdiers cover them! Trueblades and the rest behind them! Protect the archers! Mages, use the Meteor, Bolting and Blizzard tomes!" She instructed, the troops saluting and doing as she said.

"She's become knowledgeable." Renning pointed out once again.

"When Ike left she decided she needed to prepare to be the pillar if such a fight would break out, she asked for some tips from Bastian and borrowed the books Soren never took with him." Lucia explained as she headed onto the middle lines with the rest of the Swordmasters, myrmidons and the rare Trueblade.

"And she asked me for training." The ever elusive Trueblade blade with grassy hair said as he appeared from out of nowhere. Over the years his wardrobe remained the same. A large, one sided dark blue coat that stretched onto his left side a yellow and white sash marking the end. A purple shirt covered the rest of the body, a sheath resting on his right side, even though he was right handed. Simple dark blue pants and brown boots finished his wardrobe.

"Stefan, you made it." Mia said in a taunting tone. "The more adversaries the merrier, how about a match? Whoever defeats the most wins."

"A chance to test my sword? I accept of course!" He said, drawing his Vague Katti, the pinnacle of Tellius' katana blacksmithing.

"Alright! Come out come out wherever you are!" Mia taunted. She soon had her smile turn into a look of concern just as the soldiers emerged. They were by the thousands. Crimea's army was never the greatest, even more at short warning like this. They were no more than six hundred.

"Do not step down! They shall not pass!" Elincia shouted, encouraging the troops, who assumed battle positions. "Shinon! Rolf! Archers! Rain them down!" She ordered as the arrows covered the sunset. The first in line of the enemy army started to fall. Elincia got a good look at them. Their armors differed in style, but the front was mostly covered by armored knights like them. What she noticed however was that there were no horses, just a strange, yellow feathered two legged birds, much taller than a man which they used as their steeds. Their whole composition of classes was weird, she saw people with no armor or weapons, and they seemed to be beorcs. _"Just what is their strategy?"_ She wondered. But it was too late to back down. "Skrimir! GO!" She ordered, quite literally unleashing the caged beast.

"_I shall rip them to shreds!"_Skrimir yelled in his mind, only a bone chilling roar getting out of that lion's maw. With the roar the frontline mobilized and with them, the entire army.

"Pegasus knight! To wing!" Elincia ordered as their pegasi flew upwards. "We'll show Ike we can do without him!"

* * *

The frontlines were quite simply, a massacre. The soldiers didn't seem to know about laguz as they scattered as soon as Skrimir eviscerated five men with one lunge. They managed to hold their own against the armored soldiers, with the unarmed men being the hardest to handle since no one knew how to fight them. They even managed to shoot beams of energy from their palms. Still, they never saw the storm of meteor, thunder and ice that came upon them coming, falling by the hundreds before the tomes expired. Elincia was in the frontlines, using her Pegasus to fight off the strange birds. It was then that an archer did the right thing and hit her Pegasus straight in the wing, leading to a very dangerous fall in the midst of the army.

"ELINCIA!" Geoffrey shouted, commanding his steed to ignore everything and rush to the queen. Lucia and Bastian did the same.

She had been grounded and was now being surrounded by an army of musketeer-like-mages. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she grabbed Amiti with both hands.

"Don't take me lightly… a rose can have thorns." Stefan did train her after all. In one fluid motion she dodged the strange spells that resembled green blobs that they cast on her, with one fell swing cutting down three. Using the Amiti's specially crafted materials to cut through the wind, she delivered a second blow before they could even react, and just like that, she was free from the circle.

"Wow…" Was all Geoffrey could muster as she saw just how much she improved. Normally, outside of the Pegasus, she would be a normal girl, but those movements were Trueblade level. Did she have to go so far to chase after that man? Before his thoughts could develop, he saw that, as Elincia was tending her horse, a knight in dark bloody armor arose from the corpses and jumped at her, wilding two curved, blood red swords. It all happened too fast, before he could shout, before she could turn, his head had been separated from his body. Standing next to Elincia was none other than the Fireman.

"Volke! Thank you." She thanked as she took Volke's hand to get up, her horse, now healed, doing the same. As mysterious as they came, the man wore a black coat, also with coattails and simple brown trousers. Now, his face was a different story. The mouth was covered in a red mask that matched his headband, which retained his light brown head. Furthermore a scarf prolonged from both ways across his body. Simple, stealthy, impersonal.

"One thousand." He said simply, stating the sum he needed to compensate having to save the Queen.

"Only one thousand?" She asked jokingly.

"Take it or it will be ten." Volke replied, mildly embarrassed, something he could hide too well for a human being.

"Of course! Now, how much for the…"

"Elimination will be three."

"Done."

"A pleasure doing business with you, my long standing client." He bowed his head, disappearing into the shadows, screams being muffled immediately afterwards.

"Let's go, Gwydion." She said as she got back onto her pegasus, which her great-grandmother had named when she first received the steed, it was a miracle really, how it still held up. "This will be over soon!" She seemed uplift, but that was only to not worry the others. "_How could they bring down Daein with such an army? Maybe they suffered severe casualties? Or maybe they divided forces to reach Begnion? Or is it an ambush? Either way, it's too late to move back, watch over us Yune!"_

* * *

"So you are one that can test my blade." Stefan said as he felt a powerful presence near him. He had returned to the beginning of the bridge to peel of the ones that managed to pass and protect the archers. "Now, you should be perfect for my 500th." He said as he turned to see a little, seemingly helpless blonde girl. She stared at him with her beautiful but empty purple eyes, her long, curly blonde ponytail flying to the wind. She wore a sleeveless red dress with floral patterns, two long red gloves, several different sashes around her waist, and a pale pink cape. Her legs were covered by patterned white tights, and red and gold high-heeled boots. A silver tiara was also lodged on her forehead and another golden metal piece tied her hair together. Standing just a little above five feet tall a normal person would never feel intimidated by her. But Stefan was different. "Are you… branded?" He asked confused at the aura she was exuding. It wasn't a beorc's… nor a laguz's… but it didn't fall near any branded he knew off, no combination of beorc with laguz. He was just certain of one thing, whoever she was, holding back was not an option.

"Species… Unknown. Not human. Not Esper. Not beast man. Enemy. Permission requested." She said in an emotionless, cold voice. She seemed to be talking to no one, but deep inside Daein keep, two men resided, looking at a crystal ball.

"Let her do it!" The man, who could pass as a jester said excitedly. The other one, a young man of long, messy brown haired sighed and closed his eyes. It might have seemed it was his decision, but he knew otherwise. Crossing the "jester" would cost him his neck.

"Terra… Eliminate." He said to the crystal ball, her head jumping backwards as the small tiara on her head jolted in electricity.

"Number of eliminations requested." She replied emotionlessly.

"Do you even have to ask?" The jester asked as he released his trademark laugh.

"Leave no survivors." He said remorsefully.

"No survivors… Understood!" She replied as she summoned two swords into her hands. Both swords were almost as big as her and the complete opposite of each other. One had a destroyed edge, dark and lava-like tonalities and oozed an orange aura, the other one seemed to be the pinnacle of perfection, a golden sword of masterful craftsmanship, silver feather motifs appearing on it's hilt.

"To be able to wield two swords of that size… wasn't the last one to do that Altina?" Stefan noted as he observed the similarities between what Lehran described as the first empress of Begnion. "I am so fortunate! Let us go! Break my sword… if you can!" He exclaimed as he sprinted towards the girl, dodging the overarching sweep by ducking and slashing at the woman, only to be stopped by and unknown force. "Magic?" He gasped as a turmoil of winds sent him flying backwards into midair. The girl didn't waste any time sending huge fireballs against him, him being in midair had no chance of dodging, but thankfully a Pegasus grabbed him just in time.

"Stefan, be careful!" A voice reprimanded. Stefan turned back to see the familiar pink haired friend of the queen, in her normal red armor over the white uniform.

"Marcia! I'm thankful, but please do not interfere further. This opponent… I shall face myself!"

"But…" Marcia began, but she soon realized there was no talking Stefan out of this.

"Two swords being used fluidly. The ability to command magic without tomes, different magic of ours at that. I must break her sword and then make her come with us. Such talent is not seen more than once in a thousand years." Stefan had almost never been this excited in his long life. Marcia sighed and laid the Lion-blooded Trueblade on the ground.

"I'll be watching."

"You are fortunate to!" He exclaimed as he once again lunged at the emotionless girl. Again he dodged both her sweep, this time with one step into the right and one jump above. Seeing her prepare a fireball as she dismissed her destroyed blade he swung at the perfect one, using the impact to get behind the girl. Just as he landed he had sheathed his sword as he turned backwards with his eyes closed. As soon as his eyes opened, in a flash, just as the girl turned, he had lunged and cut four times against her shield, breaking it. Before she could even think of reacting, he had done a backflip backwards and lunged yet again, this time cutting into her abdomen as he reappeared behind her. "Astra." He said, sheathing his sword as the cut manifested itself, making Terra fall to her knees. "You are defeated. Your raw power and potential is unmatched, but you lack technique and will. I hope you will be able to align the three and battle me again." He began walking away to find a healer. Big mistake.

"Power insufficient. Permission… requested to remove limitation 666…" She muttered.

"Neve-" The young man began.

"Do it!" The clown shouted.

"Are you mad? The last time that happened even our army didn't survive! It will be pure carnage! Maybe even the whole country will be engulfed in flames!" The young man shouted, but that only greatened the smile on the clown.

"That's exactly why I want to see it!" He exclaimed. The man had no choice but to give the order, he could just be killed at the spot and have the clown give the order.

"Granted…" he sighed, lowering his head in defeat.

"Understood… Restriction number 666 released…" She began as the golden piece that tied her hair was taken off, her hair now waving freely to the wind, but gaining a white and pink tonality. Red energy began whirling around her. "All safety procedures disabled… Emotions released…" Her face began twisting into a sick grin. "Trance state activated!" She said in her emotionless voice one last time. "I wonder, is the blood of a half-breed like myself tasty?" Was the last words to come out of her mouth before she exploded red energy, lighting up even the sky on the sunset. It looked as if the sky was bleeding. Stefan turned around in surprise only to get a claw carved into his abdomen like Terra had had.

"Getting revenge, heh? So you ARE a laguz…" He said as he looked at the figure in front of him. The little girl's innocent figures had been replaced with a wild, bloodthirsty look as the haired, now light pinkish white with violet ends flew even with un-existing wind. Both her hands and feet were now violet her nails were now full-fledged, yellow claws. From her elbows fur arose, the same violet coloration as her hands. The rest of her body was shining, void of clothing, only being covered by its pinkish ink and red aura. She didn't' even talk anymore just groaned. "You might be more than I can handle… I am sorry but I am going to have to postpone our match. Nasir!" He called as, from behind a tree came an albino haired man with a preoccupied look on his face.

"Dragon's keep fighting to a minimum, but I see no other way!" Nasir said as he crossed his arms, a white light flashed and where the man once were now stood a massive White Dragon, the species that reigned above all laguz in power, only being surpassed by the royal Black Dragons and equaled by the red. "Child! Stand down!" he ordered as he approached the unmoving girl.

"Dragon blood? Interesting." Seeing the glint on her eyes, Nasir didn't hesitate to shower her in his breath, but to no avail, she just traversed it instantly and punched him in the gut, drawing some blood and tasting it. "So good!" She then slammed her foot claw on his chin, catapulting him upwards and jumping to follow him.

* * *

From afar, Elincia rushed to the scene where the energy came from, along with Renning, Lucia and Geoffrey. Skrimir had gained distance and was already out of sight. It was then that she saw it, flying right towards her, a White Dragon. She had to dodge it and see Nasir fall flat on the bridge, leaving a massive crated as he reverted to human form.

"Nasir!" She exclaimed as she began healing the Dragon.

"Run… away…" Nasir muttered. "Monster… Only two hits…" he said as he passed out.

"That's impossible, right? Nothing can hit a White Dragon twice and put him in such destroyed shape." Geoffrey exclaimed.

"Nothing should be able to throw a dragon this far. But he was thrown, wasn't he?" Renning pointed out.

"Elincia…" Lucia began.

"I will NOT stay here!" She exclaimed. "Let's go save them! Our family!" She exclaimed as she took flight, the others nodding and doing their best to keep up. What they arrived to see wasn't the most encouraging sight. "No…" There was fire everywhere, bodies both crawling to safety and others being burned by the fire, lifeless. How did that happen in a few minutes, she didn't know. She looked around and saw Skrimir trying to wrestle the foreign creature, only to be punched in the gut and be hurled backwards as a fire explosion came from the unknown's hand. Both Mia and Stefan, dodged the Lion by ducking and tried to use their Astra but, even in their speed they go their necks grabbed and slammed to the ground. The arrows from Rolf, Shinon and Astrid burned before they reached it and were returned by sharp ice, one that incapacitated their arms and legs. Gatrie and Brom appeared from behind her, but both the man's Wishblade and the other's Silver Poleaxe were grabbed by her bare hands, or claws, as she used them to throw them against the nearby castle. The army was being decimated. She started to approach the downed Stefan, the man Mist was trying to heal. "NO!" Elincia shouted as she kicked Gwydion to go forward. Boyd and Titania jumped in front of the monster, swinging his silver poleaxe and the Urvan, only to get the same treatment as the ones before. Mist grabbed Stefan and tried to pull him, but she couldn't escape at that speed. Smirking, the girl shot a lightning bolt aimed for Mist's knees, immobilizing the young girl. "Monster!" Elincia exclaimed as she charged through Terra at blinding speed in a blow that would downright cut a Dragon in half. Instead of it, it only slightly stunned the being, which turned to see Elincia fly on top of her. With a grimace, it looked at its own blood as its feet detached from the ground. "It can fly?" She asked, dismayed.

"Elincia, run!" Renning shouted but her niece had just been hit in the chest and knocked of her pegasus. Fortunately Volke grabbed her on the way down. Gwydion had not the same luck as she suffered a severe gash on her leg, and since Pegasi fly by kicking the air and not by their wings, it fell to the ground pretty swiftly, damaged but not dead.

"Fifty thousand." Volke demanded.

"if you can… of course!" Elincia promised.

Volke then smirked and rotated his knife, flaying his head back in an almost drunken fashion as he vanished into the darkness. A crimson blade made its way into the girl's neck…. One that broke. "Impossib-GAAH!" Volke muttered before being hit by lightning, falling unconscious on the floor. Terra smirked and turned to Elincia.

"My Queen!" Geoffrey called as he charged the girl, who was now approaching the downed Elincia.

"Geoffrey, Lucia, don't!" She screamed, but Geoffrey's spear was caught, the blue haired knight slammed against his sister before being slammed and thrown against Renning. "NO!" She screamed, grabbing the Amiti and standing up, against her body's wishes. "You'll pay for what you did to them…" She said, pointing her sword at the distracted girl. Before she could react Elincia had cut her four times already, jumping back for the fifth. She didn't see the girl's smirk as she cut through it, now standing on the other side of her. "Astra." She said as she sheathed her sword, just like Stefan taught her. But, instead of blood flying from opponent… she was the one bleeding as she fell to the ground. "I'm sorry." She muttered.

"Elincia!" Lucia called, jumping onto the girl but being frozen on a block of ice that only left her head out. Her sword fell beside her as she screamed: "N-no!" Geoffrey and Renning were knocked out, only she and Elincia remained, and she couldn't move. She closed her eyes as Terra pulled her arm back, ready to impale the Trueblade, but what her hand found was the Queen's torso. "Why?" Lucia screamed with tears in her eyes.

"I won't… let a single one of you die! No one… in Ike's command died…" She said, breathing heavily as she raised Lucia's sword and carved it into the girl in front of her… breaking it. "I'm so sorry…" She lamented as she was cast aside, completely powerless. Now forced to see her sister cut down. "I tried… I tried so hard… but we can't do this… not on ourselves… Please… just one last time…" She muttered, trying to get up but the only muscles moving were her tear ducts. "Just this one last time… IIIIKEEEEEEE!" She screamed with her last bit of hope deposited on the impossible. She closed her eyes before hearing an explosion. As she opened them, like it was in slow motion, she saw a blue cat laguz kicking the girl away as fire melted Lucia, who was now falling down before encountering the arms she had already fallen to. "Miracles do happen…" She said as relief took over her mind and soul.

"It's awkward, isn't it? I'm always catching ya when you fall." Said the Hero of Crimea.

"You're not getting anything out of me if you're hitting on me." Elincia's "sister" replied. She hated to admit it, but she felt it was already over, when she knew it wouldn't be so easy.

"You're not my type." Ike played along, laying her down next to Elincia. "Take care of her Lucia."

"Sir Ike…" Elincia muttered.

"You all fought well… all of you, especially you Elincia… Now rest and watch." He said softly as he stood up, looked around and saw his companions all knocked out on the flaming inferno around him. The perpetrator had recovered from Ranulf's blow, unscathed unless for the five cuts Elincia had managed to give her. "You'll pay!"

"Normally I'd advise a retreat, but I doubt that Ike'll take that as an answer." Soren commented as he approached from behind.

"I don't think he's even going to allow us to help him." The cat laguz said on his side, now back to human form.

"This one's mine!" Ike confirmed, unsheathing the silver sword known as the Ettard. "You messed with the wrong family!" He exclaimed, backflipping, landing on his hands, using them to cause an even bigger backflip backwards and as soon as he landed he used the rebound to propel himself skyward, spinning forward as he extended his sword, slashing at the intruder.

"HEY! That's the blue haired guy that put the silver haired pretty boy against the wall, isn't it?" The clown asked.

"Probably…" The young man thought. _"Can he stop her though?__ It's not like any of us could.__"_

Of all the fights Ike fought, not one was lost. But can such a feat last forever?

* * *

Next Chapter:

_A beorc hero returns as the battle seems lost, but can he defeat the overwhelming power that stands in front of him? Even then, when the strings of fate have taken a hold once again of Tellius, can they face a threat they know nothing about?_

_Next time: Hero of Blue Flames._

_"So you're back!"_

_"I'm gambling everything on this!"_

_"Just as I expected…"_

* * *

******Post-chapter note: **Well, now that's a strong start, isn't it? The plot's written, but you'll have to wait to see more of it. Next chapter will have our main characters fighting… interesting if I may say so myself. And yes, you can guess the pairing I'm going for from three miles away, shoot me. Now, since this is a completely new story, if you leave a review with A) opinion or B) suggestions, chances are pretty high they'll get used on the plot, so don't miss it! See ya on Sunday for the ones that read my other and in two weeks for the rest.


	2. Hero of Blue Flames

******Author's note:** After getting a review… I kinda got too pumped up. Two weeks? More like five days! Now, I just wanna say. I changed the time between RD and this by one year. Two years would clash with what I have in store.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter Two**

******Hero of Blue Flames**

* * *

"Water, water, water! Where's the damned land? Elincia might be in danger right now and Ashunera forbid if I have to inform Ike something happened to her!" Tibarn cursed as he flapped his wings faster and faster. He was still in his humanoid form to avoid wasting energy before battle. Contrary to popular belief, Formshift did consume energy, Kings could just whether it a lot better than the other members of its tribe.

"Well, that's not like you Tibarn, to actually fear a beorc?" His little brother figure, Reyson mocked. He was truly a heron with the heart of the hawk. Beneath that simple white dress, smooth and fragile appearance with his white skin, wings and blonde hair was a fighter, pity his body was so frail. He was still improving, but a heron would never match a Hawk.

"I don't Reyson, but those news would thrash him." The Hawk King told the heron. "Also, Elincia's one of my favorite beorcs, it would be a shame to see her die." He completed, turning his face to the other side.

"The great King of the Skies is finally developing a sensitive side? Today is truly a miraculous one." The prince mocked.

"Shut up! It's yours and Leanne's fault!" The distressed laguz replied in a final try to save his reputation as the one-who-didn't-care. "Ah, land!" He continued, trying to change the subject.

"KIIIIING!" He heard a very familiar voice call. Behind him, going as fast as they could came the already shifted Janaff and Ulki, his right and left arms, eyes and ears.

"What is it?" Tibarn asked as they reached him, wheezing and puffing out of exhaustion.

"Not long ago I saw and Ulki heard something very preoccupying. " Janaff began but was too caught up on his hot bloodedness to form a coherent thought.

"Tibarn, what Janaff was trying to explain is that, even though we are only now reaching Crimea, we felt the repercussions of the battle." The silent hawk explained, arousing the Hawk King's curiosity and worry.

"Is it good?" Tibarn asked in a false hope.

"I heard a massive explosion, superior to any supreme class tome of magic. Janaff claims to have seen a tower of unrecognizable crimson energy ascend towards the heavens. I highly doubt this was the work of Crimea, Gallia or even Goldoa." Ulki stated stoically, he was never one to sugar coat it.

"Reyson… go as fast as you can." Tibarn said as he became engulfed in a green light. On the corner of his eye he could observe a familiar giant black crow pass them with a mocking look tailing its beak. "Don't you dare taunt me Naesala!" He shouted as he blew up in the energy, manifesting the majestic Hawk that was his shifted form. To contrast with all the hawks and even his own wings, this form was a massive hawk of mostly green tonalities, the only zone where he was brown as his human form wings pointed out was the middle of his body. The point of his wings, head and tail were all green. Still, this isn't the time for a description as, with a screech, the bird bolted towards the bridge on the other side of Crimea. Maybe Hawks aren't as fast as Ravens, but Tibarn trained every single day of his life, Naesala didn't and relied more on his cunning, this lead to Tibarn actually seemingly matching the Raven King's speed, maybe not in combat due to maneuverability, but Tibarn could travel just as fast as Naesala now. The two kings crossed the countryside at an astonishing speed, leaving most beorc confused about what just had flown by. "Don't die on me Elincia!" He shouted as he picked up speed, Naesala doing the same. He didn't want to show it, but he felt grateful to the band that had helped him break his blood contract, even if Micaiah played a bigger role on it than Elincia, Ike and her were the main reason for that to be even possible.

"She won't, damned beorc is too stubborn to die, Ike rubbed that on her." Tibarn turned his beak to the side in complete shock. Was NAESALA reassuring HIM of all people while speaking good of people? Just what had happened in this past year? He decided to not prod deeper as this was not his main goal. Instead he simply nodded as they reached their maximum speed, for now at least.

* * *

A seemingly young, black haired teen walked swiftly down the hallway of a castle, all eyes concentrated on him, full of silent expectation. Wearing the same robes as his father did, albeit scaled to his size. Black cloak with dark blue markings that covered a coat, this one brown with golden edges. His trousers were simple white ones with boots matching his top cloak.

"Your Majesty, where is the wind taking you?" Another seemingly young teen asked. She was wearing a dark blue dress with golden markings and had her whitish pink hair tied in a ponytail. You could tell she was a laguz just by her pointed ears, meaning that her appearance betrayed her age. She was being seen nurturing a small baby who was immersed in a blissful sleep.

"Ena, I know I wasn't the only one to feel that. I can see it in all your eyes." The King of the strongest of Laguz tribes answered preoccupied. "And I am disappointed at your lack of reaction, did I not make it clear that we wouldn't follow my father's passive ways anymore?" he wasn't as much addressing his right hand tactician as he was addressing the laguz around him, all of which bowed down in shame.

"Kurthnaga, you must understand that your father King Dheginsea was king for a thousand years. Almost seven hundred of which were lived in forced neutrality. Old habits die hard." The woman replied as she caressed her baby.

"I do know that Ena… it's just that… I feel like you are really the only one who sees me as KING Kurthnaga, not Prince Kurthnaga." He lamented as he took his hand to his forehead, the crowd fell to their knees in a silent apology.

"Not everyone." A gruff voice said from behind. Kurthnaga turned to see the massive spiky red haired man behind him. His most trusted advisor behind Ena and Nasir, Gareth stood. "You remember when you showed concern about the situation in Daein two weeks ago?" He asked as he received a nod. "I took the liberty of sending two messengers directly to the Apostle showing our support and care for the cause. The messengers came back today with a very special guest."

"The Empress?" Kurthnaga guessed.

"Not exactly…" Gareth replied in fake tone of disappointment.

"Then who is so special that even you Gareth would acknowledge it?" He interrogated. From behind Gareth appeared a person from his past, a person that had seen him grow and was one of his father's dearest friends. "Lehran?"

"I still go by Sephiran in Begnion, but yes, I am here Kurthnaga." The thousand year Heron replied.

"You still live in Begnion? Shouldn't you be living in Serenes forest?" The king asked.

"I should… but the Apostle is my descendant, and I look at her like my own daughter. I cannot leave her. For that reason, everyone involved let the part where Sephiran was Lehran slide into the darkest annals of history and I continued to live as the Duke of Persis." The Heron explained.

"That makes sense. Very well… Goldoa will treat you as Sephiran in public." Kurth promised.

"I thank you, but onto more pressing matters, I suppose you will participate on this war by our side. If it goes as far as being a war that is." Sephiran asserted.

"Of course. This time, Goldoa WILL move!"

* * *

The last of the enemy soldiers that remained on the other side of the bridge fell, leaving only their commander behind, the others had either retreated at his order or fled before he gave the order to retreat. Both he and a tattooed, violet haired woman walked around in a circle, assessing each other. The woman was dressed in a way she could survive the weather on the desert, just a black top and two skirts, one red and one beige. Her right eye however, was covered by golden and black cloth, a pity, for her other emerald eye had a captivating wild beauty to it. But her biggest defining features were her violet tail and dog ears that arose from the top of her head.

"So, I take it you're the boss of this little pack over here. Guess they wouldn't let you take the main force out of Daein, huh?" She questioned as she kept her laguz blood from making her shift and tear his neck out.

"Exactly. They said we could win by using other… methods." He said as he looked pass the bridge. "I do not agree with those… but I am not someone who can agree with them for I am nor a king nor a high ranked noble. To be a commander is already a privilege only given for my teacher's standing. Were I the one on the throne, I would never resort to such brutal, unforgivable methods." He spoke truly, this tactic sacrificed his own men as well.

"So you still have some honor left in ya. Alright, Volug, this boy's mine, go help out Ike." She told her retainer, one who simply nodded in his wolf form and ran across the bridge. "Is your master as honorable as you?" She asked the man.

"There is no human more noble than general Cidolfus Orlandeu." The man replied.

"Good, then give me your name, I'll be sure to tell him you died honorably!" As the woman descended on all fours, slowly transforming into her wolf form, she took a good look at the man she was about to fight. His torso was clad I black armor while his waist was red, a Capricorn motif was found on his chest. His limbs were protected by an azure tinted armor and his hair was a clean, round blonde style.

"Ramza. Ramza Beoulve. Now, in case I win, your name." he demanded as he unsheathed his unnamed sword.

"Hah, you got confidence, I like that boy. I am Nailah, Wolf Queen of Hatari, if you do walk out of here alive, tell my subjects that I had an honorable and enjoyable death! Now, let's dance!" The now wolf-shifted Nailah spoke, lunging at her opponent.

"It shall be done! Rest in peace!" Ramza shouted back, running to meet her challenge.

The two jumped and clashed in midair, just who would be the last one left standing?

* * *

A red headband tied his hair that surged in a messy way. His left arm and his lung area were covered in clear blue and silver armor, just as his knee pads. The rest was a rag tag of clothes on brown tones. Still, what really made his stand out was the long, red cape that he wore, one that divided into three tails at the end, golden embroidery on the edges. Yes, that was Ike. His quite literally "blazing finish" to the war had granted him the title of Hero of Blue Flames. What he accomplished made legends look like crap. He did everything. Ended wars, defeated the best of the best and did what even gods couldn't, bring a hateful strife between two species to an end. Still, he was a strange character, not being raised as a noble was one thing but completely ignoring noble code at every given chance, backtalking at the most powerful politician in the continent and casting aside one of the rare promotions to nobility was another completely different thing. Ike abhorred nobility, and that's what worried Elincia the most. He did seem to make exceptions, but he never liked the castle, or Melior for that matter. Then there was the part where one of the interest parts was extremely shy and the other was as dense as a diamond. AND she was completely off topic again. It was just weird how fast she could think and connect everything that involved Ike. When did this start? Maybe it was when…

"Elincia… Elincia!" Lucia called, snapping her from her Vanguard induced trance.

"Y-yes?" She asked, blushing immensely at the look her sister was giving her.

"Wipe that silly grin of your face and drink this." Lucia told her as she gave her a blue bottle. "I don't need it. Just remember that we're not in the clear yet." Elincia nodded and drank up the elixir. For some reason, a part of her disagreed with Lucia, but her logical side knew she was right. Ike wasn't invincible, not matter how strong he had gotten.

"_Or how toned those __mus__…. __I'm__ doing it again!"_She screamed in her mind, almost spitting the elixir off in embarrassment.

"Since you obviously can't concentrate if you continue like this, let's go see if Mist's staff is still there… you CAN still heal, can't you?" It was true that once Elincia took the fields mainly as a healer in the Mad King's War, but in the War of Order and Chaos she was already spending most of her time in the front lines, that and since she trained as a Trueblade with Stefan made her doubt her healing capabilities.

"O-of course! Let's go see her!" She exclaimed, shaking her head for concentration as she took Lucia's hand and started running around the battle to Mist's location. _"Please be safe… Sir Ike…"_

Ah, the battle, well, as much as a narrator can't interfere in the story, I must say that in my humble opinion this could go either way. Terra had grabbed the spinning opener from Ike, but the sheer power behind such a blow had forced her to her knees. Ike then took advantage of it by letting go of the Ettard and using the remaining momentum to land behind the young woman. He saw that beneath her was indeed, his father's axe, the Urvan. He quickly picked up and delivered an upwards slash as he got up, deeply slashing the transformed woman. The ensuing shriek could be heard from a mile away, but Ike didn't expect the berserker like attitude that came from it. Groaning in fury the girl turned at an inhuman speed, planting her left foot's claw into Ike's face, sending him hurling backwards. Before he even hit the ground she appeared on top of him and smashed his head into it. Ike gasped but had the presence of spirit to dodge the incoming stab from his own sword by rolling sideways.

"Hey! That was my father's!" He protested as he heaved the Urvan onto his shoulder. "Great, now even the weapon triangle is against me…"

"F-father?" The girl replied in an unusual turn of events. Deep inside her mind something had been stirred.

* * *

"Who's my little star?" A tall, muscular man with an emerald mane asked the small blonde girl in his arms.

"I am!" The girl replied cheerfully as she hugged the man's neck with all her might, which wasn't a lot for such fragile looking child.

"Oh oh! Look who's overconfident! I was talking to your mother!" The man quipped playfully.

"O-oh…" The child stuttered as a saddened look took over her face.

"Maduin! Don't tease Terra like that!" A blonde woman wearing an apron and simple brown clothes shouted from inside the kitchen.

"Sorry Madeleine!" The topless man replied, scratching his head with his claws, avoiding his horns. "I was joking Terra, there's nothing that matters more to me than you."

"Even mom?" Terra asked as she wiped away tears.

"Even mom…" Maduin agreed as he pulled her into a hug.

* * *

"D-dad?" Terra mumbled, looking at the Ettard deep in thought.

"Huh? Yes, that's my dad's, would you please give it back or at least lay it down?" Ike told her, surprised at her sudden change of attitude.

"_Why hello… dearest friends!"_ Screeched inside of her mind.

"_What do you want Kefka?"_ Her father replied in a menacing tone.

Terra began screaming as she clutched to her head, her leg's losing their strength as the tiara on her head began sending electrical shocks all over her body.

"What's happening to my kitty?" The clown asked angrily, grabbing the orb with such force it started to crack.

"Maybe the very mention of her father was enough to cause a malfunction in the Slave Crown, you do know that the crown was made for HUMANS, don't you Kefka? You know, people whose magical powers aren't enough to level a country. Her trance state MIGHT be a little too much for the crown to keep in check." Oh he was getting a SICK pleasure out of this. Just the way Kefka's face twisted as he realized that he might have sent their greatest asset right onto enemy hands was priceless.

"RAMZA!" He shouted, now switching focus to the man fighting the Wolf Queen. "Get your ass out of there and go fetch the girl! We can't be too sure of what's happening."

"Well, I apologize, but as you can see, this giant wolf wants more than a few cuddles." He replied truthfully, but enjoying every second. To further prove his point, he did what he had done a minute ago so he could show just how hard it was to defeat Nailah. "Hallowed bolt!" four bolts hounded the wolf, if you can call following and failing to hit their target miserably. Even the massive sword at the end was easily dodged. "I will not be able to finish this soon."

"If you don't…" The jester began an empty threat.

"What? Really, I'm curious. You took my sister away for god knows why, you force me and my friend to follow you like dogs and you turned my other childhood friend into THAT!" He pointed towards the sparks on the horizon. "What are you going to do to me next?"

Kefka grunted no answer to be given.

"Thought so… Nailah, let us continue." The Wolf Queen nodded and they continued their dance.

* * *

"Hey… you alright?" Ike was genuinely worried about the girl, yeah she had tried to kill him and mostly everyone he knew but something was wrong with her. Still, just as walked up to her she began trembling even more.

She could see fire, she could hear screams. She found herself a laboratory, scientist poking away at every part of her body. Needles everywhere, both inside and outside of her body. She could remember the last day she thought for herself. She could see Kefka slowly making his way with a tiara towards her. The same that she was wearing. She couldn't even distinguish reality from fantasy as she saw Kefka in Ike.

"NO! GET AWAY!" She screamed, a cyclonic wind now flying around her. "The fire! Make it go away!" Her memories were just too strong for the crown. The only thing the crown was doing was constantly increasing the volts on the electric current. "THE PAIN! MAKE IT STOP!" She screamed as she reached for the tiara.

"No no, YOU stop! Get your hands off that precious tiara!" Kefka shouted but it was counter-productive to say the least. The very sound of his voice was enough to make Terra snap.

"Kefka? KEFKA? **KEFKA?** I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!** GRAAH**!" with a final roar she broke the crown herself, the energy she expended doing so catapulting even Ike backwards as several strands of energy flew from her, burning everything in their path.

From the corner of her eye Elincia could see the bolts heading straight for the fallen girl that Ike called his sister. There was no way she was going to let that happen.

"Elincia! Don't!" Lucia tried to dissuade, but Elincia had already dove towards Mist, grabbing her on the nick of time and rotating her body so she could dodge the blast. She could smell burnt hair. The blast came in so close it burned the strands of her hair which fell in front of her face during the battle.

"That was… close…" She sighed. Still, she sought Mist's staff, only to find it completely destroyed on the path of destruction the ray had left. "We're on our own Lucia…"

* * *

Lehran quickly jolted his closed eyes open as they waited for Begnion's Pegasus to pick them up.

"Lehran, is something the matter?" Kurthnaga asked, noting the terrified look on his face.

"Can't you feel it?" Lehran asked? Seconds after all the dragons on the room felt like a needle had been plunged onto their heads.

"What is this?" The newly crowned king asked as he clutched his head.

"Chaos. Pure Chaos. Unchained emotions, and most of all, power. Dragons and herons are the most susceptible, but every laguz and even the beorc will feel it if it goes on for long. It's not like how we felt like Ashera or Yune went on a rampage, but it is too close for my tastes… It may even begin to sway our temperament and judgment. Sanaki, please hurry." The heron begged as he looked on the distance, the faintest trace of red covering the horizon.

* * *

"The hell is this?" Tibarn asked as he felt the same feeling.

"I don't… know…" Naesala replied, trying to shake off the pain. "But it gets bigger the more we get closer.

"We can't stop though!" Tibarn said determinedly, Naesala nodding as they continued to their destination.

* * *

"Nailah, watch out!" Ramza screamed. He was having a test of strength with the wolf, her maws versus his blade, but he saw from the corner of his eye, the eye Nailah had covered, a ray of red energy coming their way. Using all his strength he pushed them both out of the way, much to the queen's surprise.

"Why would ya help me?" She asked confused.

"That would be an injust ending…" Ramza replied, more thoughtful on the other side of Riven bridge than the queen. "Now if you'll excuse me…" He began before noticing the alluring un-shifted queen by his side.

"You saved me, now I help you. I guess that you have a friend over on the other side. And I can guess she's the cause of this. I'll help you get her back, you have my word." She promised. She had un-shifted to conserve power, that and because she was near insanity with the energy in the air.

"I thank you… Don't worry, I'll get her back." He told nothing, knowing he was being watched.

* * *

"LIKE I WANT HER BACK!" Kefka shouted as he stormed out of the room. "Stupid girl and her stupid powers and her stupid freedom."

"Go get her Ramza." The man told his friend, now turning to the window. "Was that?" he rushed to the window and looked outside, finding nothing. "Weird… I thought I had seen a tail…"

"Way to go monkey! You almost blew our cover!"

"Shut up, "sky pirate without ship"!"

"I'm afraid of heights..." A third one remembered as they sat on the highest tower of the castle.

"Oh just shut up Butz…" Both his companion told him with annoyed expressions marking their faces.

"You promised to not make fun of my middle name!" He replied in a shocked way.

"I lied!" The man with the monkey tail replied devilishly.

* * *

"What the heck just happened?" Ike questioned as he found himself being held by Volug, his hand being the one thing stopping him from plummeting to the river below.

"I cannot… maintain my laguz form… too many dark thoughts…" Volug explained, pulling him up. "Here it is… your sword." He said, giving Ike the Ettard. "Your axe… is craved there…" The normally silent laguz said, pointing bellow the cliff, where the axe was stuck. Ike would need a Pegasus or a bird laguz to go get it after this.

"Thanks Volug… you're a lot more talkative now. Just stay back okay? You can't do much un-shifted." Ike told the wolf, heaving his sword behind his back like he always did. "She doesn't seem friendly yet…" That was the understatement of the century. Terra was practically oozing crimson energy as she rose to her feet.

"I'll make… everything… GO AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" She screamed, extending her arms to the sides with such power they caused shockwaves.

"She isn't giving me much of a choice… try to survive…" He wished as he pointed his sword once again at her. With a power driven shout he threw it upwards, the sword spinning so fast it was naught but a blur of silver. It was time for his signature attack.

* * *

"How long has it been since we've seen that?" Lucia mused.

"Three hundred and sixty eight days." Elincia spouted, much to her and Lucia's surprise.

"Really, Elincia? Really?" Lucia reprimanded.

* * *

Ike folded his legs to gain the spring effect and jumped high up, five meters into the air. He grabbed his spinning sword and began a spinning motion himself as he descended at his unsuspecting target.

"Aether!" He shouted as his sword made contact with her skin, maiming the right side of her body and causing an inhuman shriek. As much as it pained Ike to do it, the attack wasn't over yet as he used his arms to catapult himself upwards, applying the Luna part of Aether, one that was even more deadly than the Sol one. This one made an even deeper scar to her left side.

"He won!" Elincia and Lucia exclaimed as they hugged each other. Ranulf cheered and Soren just nodded. But Ike felt something was off as he prepared to land. And it was. Completely disregarding the wounds, just as Ike was landing Terra lunged at him, swinging her claw. Ike did his best to block but the Ettard didn't hold more than a touch, breaking and sending the blade to scar Ike's left cheek. That was the least of his preoccupations as he soon knew that her claws had touched his stomach, creating a massive explosion that sent him flying into the ground. Just as he landed however, Terra landed on top of him, immobilizing his muscled arms with only her legs and chocking him with her claws.

"No! Sir Ike!" Elincia exclaimed as she drew the Amiti and began to run towards them. If losing him temporarily hurt so much then she couldn't imagine if it was definitive. Still, both her and the ones running to the scene watched in horror as the monster decided to go with the quick route, raising her claw for the finishing blow. Was the miracle just a teasing from destiny? Was Ike going to return just to die in front of her? If only she was stronger. It was then that it happened, quick, huge, strong, brown and green. This object had rammed itself against the girl, one that Elincia recognized as… "Tibarn!" She called.

The Hawk King's tackle had sent the girl whirling into midair, where Naesala was waiting. With immeasurable speed he tore through her, not once, not twice but three times. Terra felt her consciousness slip away as she fell almost lifeless on the floor.

"Damn… this was though…" Tibarn cringed as he returned to human form. "Almost went insane…"

"Don't complain… I touched her three times…" Naesala retorted as he did the same, both kneeling on the floor, gasping.

"Still, good to see ya Ike… Elincia…" The Hawk King said, regaining his composure.

"Yeah, likewise, but what do you mean by "insane"?" Ike asked in a morbid curiosity.

"Didn't you feel it? That girl is like a slightly human Lehran's medallion." Tibarn blurted. "Only being near her almost made me insane… it's going away now, so it's alright."

"Oh, oh! The flying chickens!" Nailah joked as she arrived to the group. Ramza ignored her and ran to Terra.

"Who's he?" Ike asked.

"The enemy commander." Nailah replied in an oh so casual way.

"WHAT? What are you doing woman?" Tibarn roared, readying himself to punch Ramza's head off.

"Calm down bird brain, he's not evil. He was just forced… just like the girl." She explained as she restrained the Hawk King.

"How do you know that?" Naesala asked, a master of deceit himself, he knew better than to trust so easily.

"Because he saved me… when he didn't need too." She answered, embarrassed that she DID need saving.

"HAHAHAHA… So much for "The Great Wolf Queen"!" Tibarn managed to say in the midst of his laughter.

It wasn't over yet though.

"Terra…?" Ramza called as he examined the fallen body. "NO!" He screamed a she saw her still cat-eyed pupils turn to him as she bore her fangs.

* * *

"AGAIN?" Kurthnaga yelled in anger, falling his knees just as he was greeting Sanaki.

"Don't let the chaos get a hold of you." Lehran told him, being a heron that was no more than a disturbance, he was immune to influence from chaos. Still he was preoccupied, if the dragon ever fell into a rampage…

"H-hello?" A fragile voice snapped Lehran from his dark thoughts.

"Yes Leanne?" he asked the younger heron.

"Can I… he-help?" She was getting increasingly better on modern language. But the most important part was that her proposal… was perfect.

"Rafiel! Come here!" he ordered as the peace loving laguz made his way to him. "We need to end this right now." The duke of Persis pulled out a bag. One that his friend had used long ago before his death at Ike's hand.

* * *

"GRAAAH!" All the laguz on sight screamed as they clutched their heads.

"What the...?" Ike questioned as Ramza barely missed him, flying against a nearby tree. "You just don't give up, do you?" he exclaimed, reaching for his sword, remembering how it was broken he groaned.

"Here sir Ike." Elincia said as she did a gesture that almost made Lucia explode in rage, she gave Amiti to Ike.

"Elincia!" Lucia exclaimed.

"This isn't the time for formalities Lucia!" Elincia shouted back. Lucia understood that it was a necessity, but well, she felt sorry for Geoffrey when he knew about this.

"Thank you… now take cover." Ike told the duo. He looked around, even Soren was on the ground, maybe because he was branded. Looking at the sword Ike noticed. This sword wouldn't work in his current fighting style. This weapon was fit for a… Lord. Without thinking twice he changed his posture to meet the one he had used in the Mad King's War. A much more refined one, even if that strayed from Gawain style, it had to be done. The girl lunged and Ike did the same, meeting on the center and commencing to exchange blows. Right from the beginning Ike knew… it was a losing fight, but he had to be strong and fight. His life wasn't the only one in danger… that's why he disliked having an army or being a general, too much pressure, but he would take it as long as he could… even if he had to kill a little girl. "I'm gambling everything on this!" With all his might Ike pushed her away. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Every scream of the pained laguz was muffled. Every cackle of the fire. Every cry of warning from Elincia and Lucia. He only heard Terra. On the precise moment she pulled her arm back, his eyes jolted open. "Goodbye… GREAT-!" He roared, pulling his arm back as the solo air friction lit the sword aflame.

"Ike! That's enough!" A familiar and formerly hated voice rang in his ear.

"Lehran?" Ike asked, dumbfounded. It was enough for him to forget he was about to get tackled, but Nasir and Skrimir arrived just in time, resisting the madness the best they could in their shifted forms.

"Tibarn… Naesala… Nailah… help us. Ike too… restrict her!" Nasir pleaded.

"But Nasir, I can barely think!" Tibarn roared in irritation caused by the chaos.

"**JUST TRY! IT'S JUST FOR A FEW SECONDS!**" The royals trembled, if Nasir was like that, they had not much time left.

"Fine! Let's go!" They all shifted and did their best to keep her still. Tibarn and Naesala got the shoulders, Nailah and Skrimir the legs and Ike got the torso.

Lehran looked to the sky and saw the person he had just contacted by her sister's galdr arrive just in time in his transformed form.

"Reyson. I am glad you're here. Assume your position please." He said in a tone of urgency. The four herons then quickly formed a square around the laguz and the girl and started to tone their voices. "Lorazieh… let us see if your galdr was enough…" He hoped so as he manifested his black wings.

The four herons looked at each other and, upon seeing the suffering in front of them closed their eyes and began.

imisanakikeganonawot

orokokumorodametemotowikot

uaerufetotetiarahowimay

hekilledmami

All of the laguz felt the chaos in their head be slowly swept away by the Galdr of Rebirth, even Terra stirred. The beorc began to awaken at such a beautiful song, a once in a lifetime chance to ear four herons singing.

ikemazasanoyuosasumezak

otegakomoukuyirutsuinuzimadat

usawurufimimeokonotihonak

uremishika desoyiruketedikasibuy

Terra's eyes returned to normal as she remembered all the good times she spent with her family in peace, that and playing in Beoulve manor with her three best friends. Then she met that "thief" that all it needed was a home and made friends with an Imperial girl. Good times…

etitomikuuyami

uamaro sawasabutikotemisamiorokok

uamaros

uamaros

"It's a miracle…" Ramza said as awoke, seeing a now normal Terra crying herself to sleep on Ike's shoulder, even though her wounds could be mortal.

* * *

"It sure is…" the man who Kefka had ordered around said. "Still… I can't tell Kefka the effect she has on laguz…"

* * *

"It has ceased…" Kurthnaga commented as the pegasi flew towards Crimea.

"Just as expected… Never doubted Sephiran." The girl by his side said as she released a haughty laugh.

"Neither did I Empress, neither did I."

* * *

"Sir Ike… you're bleeding!" Elincia exclaimed as she saw the Hero's right arm clawed to a horrifying extent. That's what he got from holding her torso when Naesala couldn't hold the arm correctly.

"Don't worry, it's just a…"

"We have to stop the bleeding!" She exclaimed, reaching for her arm and from it detaching a piece of green cloth Ike quickly recognized.

"You tied my former headband to your arm?" He shouted, red as a tomato.

"If you left it for us to remember you, why not carry it around? Your first one is on Mist's arm as well." She replied, looking to the ground in embarrassment.

"Awwww, aren't you two the cutest?" Nailah teased as Elincia tied it to his arm to stop the blood flow.

"No they are not!" That reaction could only come from one person. One that ike cringed at seeing.

"Geoffrey…" Ike said, more embarrassed than anything.

"Ike…" The general replied in a very threatening tone. "Good to see you fare well…" That tone was dripping with sarcasm.

"Thanks…?"

"Hey!" Mist called. "Girl bleeding to death here!" She had recovered most of her trauma with the help of Rhys, but there were wounds staffs couldn't cure.

"Damnit! We have to get her to a bed! Is there any house around here?" Ike questioned.

"Well, there's the Solum estate, but I doubt…" Lucia begun, but Ike had already jumped on Titania's horse and pulled Elincia to the front.

"Lead the way!" He said.

"Of course!" She replied as she rode towards the noble's house.

"Ike and nobility? Especially Duke Solum? This is so bad…" Lucia lamented.

* * *

"Lord Kefka, we have confirmation. The army was wiped out. Commander Ramza rebelled, the survivors are heading here." A faceless soldier told him.

"So Kefka… how are you going to respond?" A smug voice asked from the other side of an orb.

"With fire and brimstone…" Kefka said in a much darker tone than usual.

* * *

"That said… Orlandeu, should punish you right now. But I am afraid that after Sephiroth's punishment the crowd will think the God Generals are weakened, so for now, you are excused. Report to me in a week's time and present your proposal for atonement… you may go." The shadowy figure told the old man as he crossed his hands. "Now… representative of Pherae… where were we?"

* * *

Next Chapter:

_A girl whose only sin was the way she was given birth awakens from a near death experience. Will she be able to forgive herself? The young rulers of the broken country encounter a trio that might represent the pillar in which Daein shall rise again._

_Who is the man pulling the strings? Ike's journey… is there a connection?_

_A plea from a Goddess._

_Next time: Goddess of Blue Flames_

_"You're a HOT queen, you know that? Shut up monkey boy!"_

_"I have to atone…"_

_"The Holy Blades. Ragnell and Alondite."_

* * *

******Post-chapter note: **Well, another chapter done. Depending on the reception, I might or might not pull another fast one on you guys, you know how human psyche works, so tell me your every thought, was it as good as the first? Better? Worse? Did they both suck? I'm all ears. Other than that, the plot will unravel, just not yet…


	3. Goddess of Blue Flames

******Author's note:**And my drive for this one continues! For some odd reason I can't get this out of my mind so, as an added bonus for my mood, you get a new chapter. This one is alot calmer than the last ones, but I'm not going to give you the plot outright. Also, this chapter has recruits, so, in typical Fire Emblem fashion, I'll point out the recruitment themes for your imagination's pleasure.

**PS:** People that know me know that I fill the voids of characters with small and fun-oriented cameos that will do zero on the overall plotline instead adding OC's that… you guessed it, would have zero impact on the plotline, so take them lightly, okay? There's one here on this one.

**PSS**: We have a surprise guest that will turn the plot around quite a bit in the middle of it, chew your nails off.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter Three**

******Goddess of Blue Flames**

* * *

Riding on a horse with Ike should have been a dream for the young Queen, but the constant cries of agony and sobs from the girl they were carrying made it a very distant cousin of that, a nightmare to be exact. First things first, considering how she had moved after those cuts, she shouldn't even be breathing anymore, which begged the question, even if life was still coursing through the girl when they got her to a bed, would any kind of treatment save her? Not that she was going to stop because of that. For a brief moment she looked back to see the girl, not a day older than eighteen, gasping for air as her garments began to turn a different tone of red from her blood. She looked so defenseless and innocent, nothing like the rampaging monster she had seen. Were the people that fell into chaos that changed? She had seen Ashnard taking up Lehran's medallion, but he was an evil man to begin with… Then again, general Gawain slew his own wife while under the influence of something similar, and he was one of the best men she had ever laid eyes upon, still, his son was much better. Was the tiara she wore the source of her rampage? Well, only the girl could tell at this point. She had to get her to the Solum estate fast.

"How much further?" Ike asked, preoccupied. "Her pulse is steadily growing weaker… I shouldn't have…"

"Don't. For all you knew, she was a monster. The injuries you caused her were in self-defense and you could not have guessed the outcome. You may have had to kill her to survive…" Elincia never liked the word "kill" even when she needed too, to save her kingdom and Tellius, but she had grown accustomed to it, enough to say it anyways. "Together we learned that the world is not Black and White, we can't blame ourselves for every life we take, no matter how righteous its motives were. Was Zelgius a kill that you are proud off? Or the killing of Levail, whose only purpose was to follow his leader, the one true general in Begnion, to the bitter end?" As soon as Elincia stopped her speech she turned her gaze into the bewildered ocean eyes of her former general and flustered at the stare he was giving her. "W-what is it my Lord Ike?" She spat out quickly, making an inhuman effort not to stumble on her words.

"Who are you and what did you do with Elincia?" He asked, still confused how he had just been told. "You're not the same person I knew just a year ago!"

"O-oh…" Elincia stumbled, not sure on what that meant.

"You've… changed… never thought YOU of all people would lecture me about the reality of killing." Ike explained, but quickly understood that that wasn't exactly to the queen's liking as her face had suddenly fallen into a sad, melancholic expression.

"_Did… did I change so much?"_She asked herself.

"Hey! Don't look at it like it's a bad thing! You were just that little flower right on the middle of the garden filled with weeds, the one who needed her gardener to survive." Don't ask Ike how he managed to do such an analogy, maybe going through a year of only Soren and Ranulf had finally driven him insane.

"So… you are implying that I am a weed now?" Elincia asked, slightly irritated.

"NO! I'm implying that you are… a stronger flower…? I don't know, I suck at analogies, forget I tried." The now flustered man replied, scratching the back of his head now that Terra's extremely heavy breathing had subsided into a calmer one. "Point is I lo-"Just in time Ike coughed the word away and went into the safer, yet more disappointing route. "Like this _new __you _and I bet the people of Crimea do too! Except the nobility, they must have been driven against the wall even more now."

Tomato. A fruit that so perfectly described the color Queen Elincia's cheeks as she received such a compliment. She had no idea what to reply, well, she did, but didn't have the courage too. She could go on and on how weak she was on the inside, but she was done with that, she could compliment Ike, but he never really liked them, she could… help the girl that had just stained her armor as she weakly coughed blood. Yeah, that looked to be the best decision. Mostly because she could see the mansion's gates closing in swiftly. She did need to give a fair warning to the person on her side though.

"Ike, please, let me do the talking. If they push it, you have my permission to grind their heads in…" She saw the look of satisfaction on his face and quickly corrected. "With WORDS!" His eyes lost some of its shine, but they still remained. "Don't worry, considering how we're dripping blood and sweat, they WILL complain, you'll have your way." The queen added with a devilish smile.

"Is this an impostor or anything?" Ike asked, still untrusting of how she had loosened up.

"No, I just learned that the only way to control nobility's bark is to show we can bite." She said with a giggle. "Nailah told me that, and she has been a queen for a long time. Now, we're here, remember, behave, she needs it…" She told him, nodding at the trembling little girl resting on his arms.

"Halt! Who are you and what is your business here?" One of the guards asked as he approached the horse. Just as looked up however his eyes fell back down, plastered on the floor in shame. "I AM TERRIBILY SORRY MY QUEEN! Shall I inform Duke Solum of your arrival madam?" He had gotten the scare of his life. Had it been some other monarch… his head might have not been in the same place as it was.

"There is no time! Go and fetch me the doctor for this estate and the village, we'll go through the gate and get this girl to a bed. Also, you may NOT bar the path of anyone under my orders, understood?" She said in a voice Ike had scarcely heard of, her commanding voice. He had to admit, the change surprised him, but for the best.

"Understood! Gary, open the gates and leave them so!" The guard ordered to the man inside the keep.

"AYE AYE!" Was heard as the giant wooden double doors opened to the inside of the estate. Ignoring the property Ike and Elincia left Titania's horse, Erza, in the hands of a nearby knave and walked inside the house. This wasn't a modest house… AT ALL. Only the most expensive looking paintings, rugs and furniture adorned the mansion, things that Ike didn't care about and were about to get dirty, very dirty.

"Duke Solum!" Elincia called, hastening and impatient footsteps striding into her ears just before a… muscled man appeared from a door? Don't get me wrong, Solum was no Oliver, but he wasn't, by any chance fit, his posture also seemed to be too relaxed for the legendary snob he was. For this reasons, Elincia didn't believe it was Solum, until…

"My Queen! Good tidings!" The brown haired body-builder physic men greeted. So he was Solum… and he was being nice? "Fret not! I can see the surprise on your oh so beautiful face and I must admit, if I had appeared to myself a year ago, I would never have recognized me. And it is all thanks to you my queen!" He exclaimed, kneeling and kissing her left hand. This didn't exactly go well with the blue haired swordsman, but he held it in.

"M-me?" She asked, confused at how she could have caused such change.

"Yes, you! Phoenicis changed me! At first I was so blind I merely wanted to escape, then I met the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. It didn't matter that she had wings, those long, flowing chocolate strands of hair and emerald eyes won me over. I tried to integrate on the Hawk culture, but for that, I had to fight. I trained myself under Tibarn himself, who found my resolution amusing and well… little by little I changed. All that scheming and pettiness about money seems so far away now. Now that I have returned I'll make some changes around here! Leo promised that she would visit someday!" He didn't even notice Ike was there?

"Leo?" Elincia questioned.

"Leonor, my beloved hawk!"

"Branded on the way… better warn Stefan." Ike mumbled amused.

"Oh… is that… Sir Ike?" Solum exclaimed, running up to him and shaking his hand forcefully. "You have become my hero! You are everything I aspire too!"

"Oh Ike… fangirls weren't few, but fanboys is a new one!" Elincia joked, but as soon remembered why they were there. "Duke, sorry to interrupt, but can you spare a bed, this girl is in dire need of medical assistance!" As soon as Solum looked at the squirming Terra his eyes jolted open and he bolted towards the stairs.

"Follow me! I trust you already called the doctor."

"I'm here." An elder doctor using a cane to balance himself said in a sardonic tone. "Now, get me my patient."

"Never saw you 'round here." Solum commented.

"Does it look like I care?" Okay, so he wasn't the most sympathetic of doctors, but he had to do.

* * *

Now in the room, the man used very strange utensils to poke at the girl, touching her chest with a round metal utensil which cables went to his ears. Most importantly, no magic was involved.

"Well, I've got two good news and two bad ones. Now, which ones first?" The gruff man asked, leaning on his cane.

"The bad ones." Ike said. "What? Better get them over now."

"You asked for it." He said, spinning the cane. "One, no human can survive these wounds." Before the despair could settle in, he replaced it with another emotion. "Two… I was never really on your side." Ike rammed him against the wall violently just as he said that, they had been played.

"Hey, mister steroids, want to hear the good news?" The man mocked, his grizzly bearded face twisting into a smile.

"They better be good!" Ike threatened. Somehow, this close the man seemed to be so familiar… who was he?

"One, Terra here, is not human, not fully at least. If our look closely, most of her wounds are healing by themselves, she'll be fine." He said, not changing his tone even after being almost chocked. The news made Ike somewhat loosen his grip. "Two, if you don't kill me right now, you may win over a doctor."

"Why should I trust you?" Ike asked, letting go of the middle aged man but still eying him warily.

"I don't exactly like how my continent is being run. That said, I'm no fighter or politician, I'm a doctor, I heal people, so I stayed low. Also, I don't give a damn, but I don't give a damn 'bout 90% of things. Still, Terra is my favorite patient, mostly because of how interesting her body can be and because she's so easy to make fun off, her friends too…" He saw how evil the looks he was getting were. "What? It's true. Besides, blue hedgehog, you saw me once. I treated that extremely bitchy black haired friend of yours when he caught the desert fever."

So that's where he had seen him… well, if SHE trusted him as a doctor, he was a welcome addition.

(Cue "With us!")

"Fine, the queen of a country trusted you with so I might as well. Your name?" He asked as he saw the man walk away from him and near the bed.

"House, I was the Head Doctor back in Dalmasca. Because of that, you can and SHOULD call me Doctor House." He grinned before turning to Solum. "Need a needle, a lot of string, bandages and some wet cloth, pronto. The rest of you can go eat or something, just get the hell out!" He dismissed.

Elincia had so many questions left… but Ike had just heard about food.

"LET'S!" He exclaimed, abandoning all reason and dragging her with him to the dining room. She smiled, even if Ike didn't notice, he was holding her hand.

* * *

"Liquid… Liquid Snake do you copy?" The monkey tailed man whispered into a Whisperweed.

"Loud and clear Solid." The weed whispered back.

"There are two guards coming your way, as soon as they get pass the two of you, I'll give the command and you and Naked jump out and knock them out, understood?" He asked not taking his eyes off the two armored soldiers for one second.

"Understood." "Butz" replied from inside a crate. Okay, it wasn't a cardboard box, but they didn't even HAVE cardboard as far as they could see, so they had to improvise.

"Now!" "Solid Snake" told them, without a thought they both bolted out of their crates and smashed their blades on the guard's heads, the dull side of course, instantly knocking the two of them out.

"Good job team!" The monkey tailed man congratulated as he fell down the ceiling.

"Can we stop calling each other "Snake" now? Being the whiny brother all the time is kinda annoying." The blonde man asked.

"Well, now that we secured the dungeon, I guess."

"Are you here for the queen?" A male voice asked, the trio jumping back as a giant exclamation point on top of their heads. "Relax, I'm on your side if you are." The said as he stepped forwards, revealing a green haired Sentinel waving a key. "Edward told me about the three of you. You do have an escape plan, don't you? If you don't, I just blew my cover as a guard for nothing."

"Who the hell do you think we are? Of course we do!" The men with the monkey tail replied.

"Good, now follow me, I know where her cell is. Name's Aran by the way. You?"

"Zidane!" The man with the monkey tail exclaimed.

"Bartz!" The brown haired one continued.

"And Vaan!" The blonde finished.

"Okay then, follow my lead!" Aran said, even if he was finding the enthusiasm strange.

* * *

"D-Doctor?" A very weak voice called from behind the middle aged man who was now washing his utensils with the water he had asked.

"So you're awake. No this is not Rabanastre, it isn't the Magitek Research Facility either. Any memory you have from what happened is probably true." He said, trying to appear disinterested.

"Always… straight to the point… aren't you?" She asked, smiling.

"Get back to your damned sleep, if you don't walk out of this alive I'm not getting a new job." He said gruffly.

"Sure thing doc…" She replied, going to sleep, what happened before could wait.

* * *

"So this is it huh? They really locked them up as deep as they could." Vaan commented as they arrived onto two separate cells at the end of the deepest, darkest corridor of the dungeon. These cells were only used by King Ashnard himself in attempts of maddening people with solitude, and yet, two of the greatest heroes of this continent were here, locked.

"Micaiah?" Aran called as he looked into one of the cells.

"Aran?" A sweet yet wary voice asked as the Silver Haired Maiden came into full display. Her hair was her name sake so it's a given, she was wearing a dark, skin tight vest that covered everything but the top part of her torso, where it changed into dark blue hue that spread into her cape, she also wore a golden chocker and a blue ribbon. She was small and frail, and looked too young to be queen, even by their standards, still, the first thing that they could say was…

"You're a HOT queen, you know that?" Ever the flirt, Zidane couldn't just contain himself.

"Shut up monkey boy!" A teenage voice came from the other cell, from behind the bars, a green cloaked man stood, almost gnawing at the bars. The Whisper was known to be too over protective of his wife, even more so after they married. Still cloaked in his old green cloak and using grey pants that encased knifes, he was ready for combat, if he had a weapon that is.

"Aaaaaand you must be King Sothe. Edward did warn me NOT to flirt with Micaiah with you here, but sheesh…" Zidane mumbled, incurring even more wrath from the man.

"What do you want?" He exclaimed.

"Calm down Sothe! What if they are here to get us out of here?" Micaiah asked, Sothe swallowing dry and stopping his outburst.

"Ding Ding Ding! And you are correct! And you win…" Zidane exclaimed, pulling the key out of Aran's hand and hurriedly opening the door. "A "get out of jail free card" for you and your extremely grumpy husband who will have to promise not to do anything to destroy my physical integrity!"

"Sothe… do it." She ordered in a low but intimidating tone. She knew Sothe wasn't going to if she didn't order him as his pride had taken from Ike, who she still thought would be the father of his children, were he a woman.

"I promise not to… hurt you if you get me out of here…" He broke, Zidane smiled and kept his end of the bargain.

"Well, let's go!" Bartz exclaimed happily.

"Wait." Micaiah told the young man as she got out of a thinking position. "Why are you helping us like this? By your clothes, you clearly don't live in Daein, especially the blonde over there."

"That's Vaan! And I do just fine in this cold even without a shirt!" Vaan exclaimed, is pride hurt.

"What was Daein's last king?" She inquired.

"Huuuuuuuuh."

"My point is proven." Micaiah said. "You could argue you came from the desert, but you didn't."

"Desert?" Vaan asked, looking both sides to only see facepalms. "I better shut up…"

"Now, answer me." Micaiah ordered.

"Do you really need a reason… to help someone?" Zidane asked with an unusually solemn tone on his face. "If you really do… then you're not worth saving." He continued, turning his back at her. "Come with me if you want, we're hightailing, with or without you."

"Micaiah… you don't have to-" Sothe didn't even finish the sentence before Micaiah walked up to Zidane and grabbed his hand. She never completely understood the length of her powers as a branded, but she knew that when she sacrificed herself, she didn't only cure the person, she understood her. And this was no different.

(Cue: "Stalwarts Unite!")

"Sothe, Aran, let's go." She said convict. "They mean well."

"Whatever you say Micaiah. Laura is waiting at the entrance." Aran said, putting one arm behind his head.

"Alright! Monkey boy there is Zidane Tribal, blondie number two is Vaan and I am Bartz Klauser." The young man introduced, still Sothe wasn't convinced.

"You sure?" Sothe asked, not sure if he trusted the man that was now kissing the hand Micaiah had just held.

"Yes, but you have my permission to punch him… once." She quipped, a broad smile tainting Sothe's normally cold expression.

"With pleasure." He said, cracking his knuckles

"Wait what?" Zidane asked just before everyone heard his jaw cracking.

* * *

"Well, I guess that's that." Tibarn commented as Sephiran used his Ashera's Staff to heal everyone on their side back to a healthy state. Ramza was still winning over soldiers as Mist and Rhys healed those who agreed. The others were patched up and sent to prison in a nearby city.

"I'm sorry you are so blind… you'll live, think about what I told you in prison." Ramza told the last survivor, him and the healers leaving him behind as he grumbled. This particular soldier however, was ruthless and knew when a guard was down. Even with his left arm cut off he saw the opportunity and grabbed his sword, jumping on the direction of the closest target, the small brown haired girl.

"For Palamecia!" He roared as his fell blade came crashing down on Mist. Everyone looked, but no one was in range. Mist could only watch as the blade inched ever closer… stopping just a mere centimeters away from her head. "W-what? C-can't move?" He stuttered, his body trembling all over.

"Of course not…" A mature woman's voice resounded behind him. "You're already dead." She completed, sheathing her katana as the man broke in half. "Are you alright little girl?" The newcomer asked, kneeling to Mist's side. She was wearing what seemed to be a blue eastern vest that covered the front and back of her legs, brown boots with blue ribbons on it and black gloves, nothing more. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she looked to be in her early thirties.

"I am not little!" Mist protested. "But I'm alright… thanks to you! Thanks!" She exclaimed, hugging her savior.

"Well now, what do we have here? I had no idea there were any more Trueblades in Tellius." Stefan commented as he approached the woman.

"Trueblade?" The woman asked, confused.

"It IS what you are right? The level beyond Swordmaster." Stefan asked.

"We can see that!" Mia exclaimed. "We should have a match!"

"Not now Mia, but I must admit she does look skilled." Lucia cut in.

"_Well… if I tell them I'm a Blade Lord they might ask too many questions… and I'm not that far away from a Swordmaster so for now I might be okay." _ She rationalized before answering. "Yes, if you call me that. You are the only other ones I found… I take it you were the ones that took care of the army I was following." She weaved the question in-between her answer as she scouted the environment. Considering the amount of prisoners and the group she had taken care of on her way here she was sure they had been wiped out.

"Aye, that was us." Tibarn said, approaching the woman who was completely dumbfounded by the man.

"W-wings? Just what are you?" She stuttered.

"Well, aren't you the beaming example of good manners, not that they wouldn't e wasted on Tibarn, but I digress." Only the Raven King could weave two insults so perfectly on the same phrase.

"Oh, let her be, she must have never seen bird laguz. Right?" Ranulf asked.

"T-t-tail?" She stuttered again, ending Ranulf's theory.

"Oh c'mon, you never saw a laguz? Herons, cats, tigers, lions, ravens, hawks… heck, dragons?" He blurted, the most ridiculous answer possible.

"Oh, I've seen dragons." She answered truthfully and somewhat bitterly.

"WHAT? How can you get to GOLDOA and never see any other laguz?" Ranulf was wary at best.

"Just let the girl be, Ranulf. Explanations may come later, what I would like to know is your reason to be here." Sephiran calmly asked as he made himself be known.

"_Well… now that I screwed it all up I'm lucky I even got a chance…__ Can't let them know where I come from though.__"_The woman told herself. "The destruction and misery of Daein… I can't stand and watch it. I needed to do something about it. So I followed this regiment of the army to help whoever it was going to be attacked… Seems I didn't need too."

Sephiran could see she was hiding a lot, but he needed to ask of her something else.

"Might I ask what you are going to do now?" He asked rhetorically, he was fishing for the answer he wanted, and oh boy did he get it.

"Tell me, is this army going to liberate Daein?" She asked with a hopeful look on her facial features.

"We'll do the best we can, after we join with Begnion." Nasir told the girl.

"Yeah, kick their faces in and then rip out their eyes!" Tibarn said a little too aggressively.

(Cue: "Together We Ride!")

"Then…I ask of your permission to join this army!" She exclaimed, putting up a strict soldier pose.

"I had already guessed. I see no evil in your eyes, you are free to help us. May I have your name?" The heron asked.

"_Should I tell him? He seems to be trusted, but maybe my surname is not the safest bet."_ She thought, deciding to only use her first name. "My name is Lyndis, but you can call me Lyn, may I see your commander?"

"Of course, we were headed for Ike just…" He stopped to look at a small bird flyng its way in Ike's direction."… now…" He said with a smile.

"Is that…?" Reyson asked before noticing that Tibarn and Stefan were gone, running after the bird.

"Wait a second here." Tibarn told the bird, which never stopped flying. "Back so soon?" The bird nodded as it chirped.

"Heading for Ike?" He received yet another nod. "Can I come?" And yet another nod. "Great!"

* * *

"So Ike… how was your journey?" Elincia asked hesitantly, sweeping a piece of cloth around the edges of her mouth as she finished her meal, which would only be the first course for the blue haired mercenary.

"It would have been better if I hadn't needed to run back eight months in." He said matter of flatly. "Spent two months getting to Mastus, the capital city of Hatari. And another month getting too an crossing over the freaking mountain. Pair that with the fact we had to backtrack to Mastus to get some warp powder and manage to come in time, one third of it was mindless walking."

"What did you expect?" She teased. "I mean, you're lucky to have even found anything at all, if it wasn't for Soren or Ranulf you'd be lost anyway."

"My sense of direction isn't that bad!" Ike protested.

"On the battlefield. After two full months in Melior you couldn't even find the fair!" She accused, laughing when Ike's face reddened and he decided to stuff in mouth with pork to forget his problems.

"My queen, when did you marry Ike?" Solum asked casually and honestly. Maybe he shouldn't have done it when Ike and Elincia were drinking as both of the spit their drinks out on top of each other before looking at him in confused and distressed looks. "You mean, you aren't? Could have fooled me, you're exactly like a married couple."

"We are not!" Ike roared.

"Why would say that?" Elincia asked, much less aggressively and more curious.

"You'll know when you get there."

"Implying they get there." A voice came from behind.

"You're really… REALLY creeping me out Geoffrey." Ike told the Silver Knight who was now sitting on the other side of the table. How did he even GET there?

"Solum." He said with a head bow.

"Geoffrey." He returned.

"Ike, we have a new recruit that wants to see you." Geoffrey informed before raising from his seat. "But first, we have a guest." He said as Tibarn entered the room, a little bird chirping on his shoulder and Stefan walking by him.

"Is that…?" Ike began before seeing the bird bolt towards the room where the girl was.

* * *

The bird came into the room, flying towards the bed as blue flame emerged from its claws, which were holding a very familiar medallion. The flames spiraled around the room before concentrating on one spot, in one flash exploding as they condensed into a small girl. Wavy, red hair that passed her shoulders and touched her green cloak, yellow dress with white pants and brow shoes. It was hard to believe this was the being it was. Yune, the Goddess of Chaos. The deity then walked up to the bed and started staring deep into Terra's features, even touching her chest just for her eyes to jolt open as though she had been shocked.

"So much power on a mortal is not natural…" She mumbled before hearing a cough and cane hitting the ground behind her.

"Well, hello to you too…"House said sarcastically. "No, I'm not impressed with your little light show. And yes, I am annoyed that you essentially blew up near my patient."

"Well now, who's the badass?" Tibarn questioned as he entered the room.

"Save it for later, I haven't slept in three days, I'll see you in an hour or so." The medic grumbled as he went away.

"That was… weird." Tibarn commented. "Anyway! What are you doing here short stuff?" He asked casually at the Goddess.

"Shouldn't we be more formal, she is a…?" Elincia began.

"No, it's quite alright with me Elincia, after all… we are "family" aren't we?" She asked, looking at Ike that replied with a grin. "The reason I am here is lying right next me." She predictably explained.

"Why is that?" Terra asked, sitting up and stretching her arms. "I needed that…" She mumbled, glad to have had any sleep. Her delicate frame and almost divine voice made even the ones that fought wonder if this was the same person that they met on the battlefield.

"Well, you look a lot cuter when you're not trying to murder people." Ike commented. He got more than a few daggers thrown with Elincia's eyes and noticed a sudden darkening of the room's atmosphere. "What? It's true!" Dense Ike, people… Dense Ike.

"I couldn't control it okay? I still can't!" Terra exclaimed, looking at her hands as tears formed up. "I know it! I remember them! I remember every single face of the people I killed! I'm conscious while I'm doing it, but it's like someone else was controlling my body. And this was when I didn't have Kefka order me around with that cursed crown!" She was in tears now, leaving Ike to take the blame for it.

"Look at what you did bonehead!" Tibarn gnawed. "I wonder how so many females grow attached to you, you're as sensitive as a rock is to a mosquito!"

"You should consider the feelings of your peers more." Yune scolded.

"She's still a girl!" Elincia continued. Geoffrey didn't do anything, he just smiled at Ike getting his head beat in.

Stefan however, wasn't a man of "company" or, "society" or even "conversation" so he jumped straight to the point.

"That little rambling you did lead us nowhere. I understand that that crown enslaved you and that you cannot control that… shifted form of sorts but tell me this, who is Kefka and how often do these bursts come?" Stefan would appear happy go lucky to most, but behind all that was the reason he became a hermit, he was awfully direct and highly critical, something that didn't suit well on nobles, even more so him being a branded.

"K-Kefka is the Head Advisor for the Emperor. I know nothing about his schemes, but he is constantly doing it, you only realize it when it's too late… like my parents." She held back the tears again, they wouldn't fix anything. "He was also the one who controlled me. For that matter he was the de facto commander of Lightbringer Division since I was the one elected so he could manipulate it from the shadows." She was regaining her composure and had sat on the edge of the bed, now revealing how the side of her body was only stitched, seemingly determined to let no scar remain. She still had bandages covering her more private parts of her upper torso though. "The rest of the six Divisions either fell for it or didn't want to risk interfering with Kefka."

As overwhelming and extremely vague this information was for Ike he still wanted to know one thing. "Wait, six other divisions? You're in charge of one the BIG ones? So you're saying we're going to fight a seventh of the Empire's army in Daein with a rag tag group?" It was the first time in a long time Elincia saw Ike worried about the odds, but before she could ask why, Terra answered.

"No. The Lightbringer Division is a lot smaller than the rest. This is because we are the "infantry" of the army and well… I can't sugarcoat this, our main strategy was to send me into the middle of the fight and have Kefka remove restriction number 666 if things got out of hand. We only did it once though. I still have nightmares about it…" She shuddered but shook it off.

"So what you are saying is that a big part of their threat got cut down when they lost you." Stefan deduced.

"Yes. And to answer your other question… I don't know. I haven't been able to control my actions for the past five years… Only when Kefka went on a trip would I be able to relax for a few days, even then my "methods" branded me a monster when Kefka was the one doing them." Even she was worried about her self-control, she didn't want to harm the people who had saved her.

"Interesting. I reckon then that if we keep you away from them they cannot control you and we might stand a chance." Stefan suggested, but that wasn't happening.

"I don't think that's what she wants." Ike intervened but his former teacher took the logical route.

"It is not a situation of what she wants, but one of what we need. She must be kept away from the battlefield." He was right, from what he knew, it was the logical path.

"No!" The small girl exclaimed with conviction. "I've had enough of being told what to do! I have to atone… for the pain I caused and if the first step is to free Daein, it will take more than a human like you to stop me!" She was getting a little bit angry, and nobody liked Terra angry.

(Cue: "With us!")

"Alright, you convinced me. You got a lot more guts I gave you credit for, they are just hidden away." The former general told the girl as he extended his hand. "Welcome to the group… ham…"

"Terra! Terra Branford!" She exclaimed with the most expressive "thank you" she had ever had on her face as she shook his hand.

"You're not general anymore Ike, what makes you able to recruit people to our army?" Geoffrey intervened. Was it just Ike thoughts or was Geoffrey growing increasingly more aggressive as time went on?

"Well, she can join the Greil Mercenaries and come as a part of it to the army." Ike replied, already used to go around regulations.

"I do not think that'll be necessary Ike." Yune said as her eyes closed. "I can feel them. The Holy Blades, Ragnell and Alondite. They are so near. This can only mean…"

"What do you mean, I need to be under Crimean orders? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?" A brattish voice screamed from the outside. The fact that it was female and coincidently, the promise of the blades being near, she could only be.

"I should dispose of your head for touching the Apostle!" A woman's voice cried.

"Yup, that's Tanith alright." Ike quipped, remembering the Falcon knight's captain temper. "We should get down there before she kills someone." He suggested and as such everyone started to move out.

"Get dressed." House groaned as he threw Terra her washed clothes back. "Grats, you finally stood for yourself, now you know how it's like to be me, but on an ant-sized version."

"Good enough of a compliment for me." She returned, starting to put her red dress back on. When she arrived down there she saw Ike and Tibarn trying to restrict the short brown haired woman from impaling the guard, over and over. It took a minute or two for that to subside, but it did.

"Ike, we meet again." The small Empress, in her red dress and bandana that held her long purple hair, plus her signature baggy pants, asked. "Why is it that even when you leave the continent, you still manage to arrive in the nick of time? Honestly, this seems more of a tale than real life." She said, why would she think that?

"Well Sanaki, I really don't know or care about that, I live my life the way I think I should, EXCEPT when an certain monarch appears, gives me a very important and potent sword and uses it as leverage to make me a general. At first I refuse, then these guys make me take it. I'll save you the trouble." The Crimean general-to-be said, extending his hand. "Give me the Ragnell and I'll lead this ONE LAST TIME!"

"Unusually cooperative, I see you're learning to respect me… Just joking, the only way to earn your respect is to beat that face in as you would say in your ruffian ways… Tanith, get both blades if you may." With a nod and a salute the captain ran to her Pegasus and detached from it two massive swords. Both had cross shaped hilts and their blade was straight with a roundish tip, however they differed in colors. The first one had a black hilt with a green crystal on it and a dark golden blade, the other seemed its antithesis, with a glowing golden handle supporting a red gem and a shining pure white blade. "Here you go, your sword. You have no idea how troublesome it was to take it out of the cathedral again on such short notice, but I believe Godslaying blades need to be put to use." Sanaki told her new General, giving him the sword he used for the most important moments of his life.

"So it's MY sword now? Oh you're really trying to treat my boots aren't you?" Now he was just teasing her and Tanith, but, for his disappointment, they had become "Ike-proof" after so long. "Oh c'mon, not even a cringe?"

"That is quite enough childlessness Ike, now tell me, who should I hand this blade?" She asked as she grabbed the Alondite. "That Trueblade Mia?"

"Hm…" He wondered but soon found someone that could need it. "Terra, do you require a weapon?"

"Y-you want to give me that? Isn't that sword a Holly Blade?" Terra stuttered, she knew nothing about the sword, but they said it killed even gods.

"So? It's a sword, you use swords by what Stefan told me and I see no sword on you, you want it?" he asked directly, thinking on a purely practical way.

"Wait a second…" She closed her eyes and projected her mind elsewhere, a place where she summoned her normal blades. "I thought so… they cut my access to the Void Storage, I can't summon my blades…" She lamented taking a few steps forward to a slightly uncomfortable Sanaki. "May I?" She asked, extending both her arms.

"If that idiot trusts you, I'm okay with it, show us what you are made off." The now teen girl replied as she put the sword on Terra's hands.

Instantly, a surge of energy took over her, her eyes jolted open as the blade glowed in a calm blue flame.

"Whoa…" Terra gasped as she looked at her blade. Without a thought she grasped it with one hnad and danced with it in a flurry of silver flashes. Sanaki was flabbergasted at how fast she could swig one of the heaviest swords in existence, but she was even more surprised when she began exhibiting flashes of red flames, ice covering the blade and showering from it and even lighting striking the rocks the blade touched. "It conducts magic so well!"

"Yeah and look at this!" Ike exclaimed, singing his on the general direction of a rock, such rock being decimated even though it was more than ten meters away. "Anti-archer material!"

"Thank you!" She thanked the empress who just flashed a very confused smile.

"I'd say be careful with it, but that will never break so… have fun I guess."

"My blessing didn't wear out yet also." The goddess which the empress hadn't seen said, pointing at the blue flame that at times appeared.

"Yune?" The empress asked, walking over and hugging her in a very uncharacteristic act. "You did not abandon us!" She exclaimed happily.

"We would never abandon you, we were just trying to make you safe… but we failed. I came here asking for help… Ashera stayed on the other continent." She explained with a sad look on her face.

"Well, it sure looked like they needed help, but Yune, don't tell me you came all the way here just to ask for help… you are telling me that after we kicked them out of Daein I wouldn't round up as many people as I could and stormed the other side of the mountains?" Ike asked, almost hurt.

"You would do that?" Yune asked, surprised that he would even care.

"Well, you know what Zidane said, do you really need a reason to help someone?"He said with a smile.

Elincia had so many questions on her mind she barely knew where to start.

"Who is Zidane, Ike?" She asked, but she fleet a and on her shoulder, one that belonged to.. Stefan?

"Whoever he is it can wait until we are moving. Let's get the army moving to meet with Begnion and Goldoa." Always the practical one. "Yune, are you coming on that form or…"

(Cue: "With us!")

"It's been a long time since I used a body, may I? I can fight too! Not to my full extent but I can be a "decent mage"." She joked.

"Fighting WITH a Goddess? Well, this is worth being a general for!" Ike exclaimed, excited to see how she fought.

"Okay then, let's go!" Stefan said as he pointed onwards.

"We'll discuss payment at camp." The doctor told the queen.

Before they left however, Ike pulled Terra by her arm and asked a very important question.

"That's right, Terra, why did you want to go so vehemently? If it's just for revenge I…" He knew he couldn't talk after his past with the Black Knight, but still, he didn't need too.

"There's a friend who…"

"Ramza's already on our army." Ike interrupted, only to be corrected.

"Not Ramza. This one was my "right hand" if I wasn't controlled. He should be a very good addition if we can save him." She explained, Ike wondering who he could be, he did completely miss the fondness on Terra's voice.

* * *

"Captain Verus! We have cornered them!" A man with a white turban and cloak told the man with the crystal ball.

"_Now or never…"_ The man with the surname Verus told himself as he rushed to the location, finding his soldiers being decimated by the combined strength of the rebels. "Halt!" He ordered, putting himself between the crowd and the queen. " I am captain of the sub-division of Mystic Knights from the Lighbringers. Are you rebels trying to escape with the queen?" He asked, Zidane stepping forward.

"What if we are?" He asked with a threatening tone.

"In that case…" He knew they had taken Terra's license so he summoned her Lightbringer, one of the seven treasure of the empire and charged it with icy winds. He then did the completely unexpected…" Spellblade… Blizzaga!" He chanted, swinging his sword towards his own "allies" freezing them all in place. "Follow me! I know the way to the sewers." He shouted, running down the corridor.

"Let's!" Micaiah exclaimed, blaming her trust on her alliance with Ike, he made her way too soft.

* * *

"Ohhh a rogue? That will make it sooooo much more fun to wait for the army! Hey Ice Queen… go take care of your friend." Kefka said in a sadistic and joyful tone at the same time before unleashing his trademark laugh.

"Dammit…" A blonde woman by his side cursed, but she had to obey.

* * *

Next Chapter:

_As Crimea marches towards Daein bits and pieces of Ike's journey fall on his friend's ears, ones that light the path to the mission the Crimean Hero has imposed himself on behalf of peace. _

_Meanwhile, Queen Micaiah dances with the devil himself as they try to make their escape through the canal._

_Far away, in an unknown land two monarchs decide what could be either a war declaration or a peace treaty._

Next time: Power Hungry Fool

"_You see, I care not of the other Lycians, I care only for the entrance to not be barred… the rest will sort itself out."_

"_Come out come out wherever you are!"_

"_The people of Mist?"_

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Even with my drive people… Diablo III comes out today… yeah, next chapter should be the first to go by the two weeks schedule, knowing that I DO have a bigger priority on the other story. Sorry 'bout that, remember to leave your opinions on that new, big blue button! You might just get a surprise. And yup, Lyn's here to stay!


	4. Power Hungry Fool

******Author's note:** Now you'll see just how big the scale of this story is, if you thought it was just Tellius versus another country, you're in for a surprise. Also, "Power Hungry Fool" is now the official theme for the Emperor you're going to see, it just suits him too well, sorry Oliver.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter Four**

******Power Hungry Fool**

* * *

The environment was oppressive to say the least, as much as the yellow haired monarch tried to hide it, for the former tactician and the former fighters it was obvious by the looks, postures and the way the guards held their weapons, that if something went wrong, they had better be ready to fight.

"Lord Eliwood, you seem… troubled." The very same monarch commented, even though he knew exactly why, he was using that to his advantage afterall. The massive throne room filled with exquisite carpets and paintings, what you'd expect from a royal, but the paintings told a story. They were all, without exceptions, paintings of the man in front of them. Wearing gold and purple armor decorated with small spikes, purple and white stripes, and demonic faces including one on his back obscured by his hair. His gauntlets sport extended claws. On his head a purple crown with a snake head emerging from it sat, bright yellow hair that extended into his violet cape.

"It's nothing Emperor Mateus, it's just… is such a full guard really necessary?" He asked of him in the most respectful way he could.

"With all due respect Marquis, I have already told you that the rebels have been growing restless ever since we deployed one of our seven divisions towards one of the new continents and the commander for another is to be executed for High-Treason. I consider this the bare minimum for my well-being." He spoke smugly and you could see that he considered himself to be higher than anyone in the room. Eliwood cursed the day he decided to try a diplomatic meeting with the leader of the continent they had discovered west from theirs, he couldn't have known what he was going to find. First things first, almost as if they were being watched, the day before departure, two mages appeared and offered their services to teleport them directly to the Empire. Eliwood thought of it suspicious so he told the person he trusted the most out of his companions, Lyndis of Sacae, to sneak out of the Inn they were teleported too. The mages did not have power to cover a whole continent with four people, so they nonchalantly left them on the Inn with a coach and a cart waiting for them the next day, good thing they were not informed of their numbers or his gamble would have been mute. They were even forced to wait two full weeks after their arrival for a meeting with Mateus, who was returning from a "treaty" as he called it, with nearby nation Baron. Eliwood would not fall for this, the man could try to hide it, but he was a tyrant, the lust for power was seeping from his eyes and every word he uttered was leading to the question the now sickly hero was intent on refusing. "So, about my proposal, would you grant us passage on one of your piers?" That was it, THE question, Eliwood knew what was hidden behind all that flowered banter, the hunger to rule everything. If Eliwood's experience didn't betray him, rebels normally did have a cause and during the two weeks of living in Palamecia's capital, he had learned more than just about the seemingly impossible constructs. Fear, oppression, torment reigned on the city, the excuse of "rebels" would never warrant the violence he had seen and heard off on the town.

"As I said, Emperor Mateus, I am not one that may decide on that as I represent only a part of the Lycian Alliance, I cannot by any means make such an important decision that may even not concern us, but the entirety of Elibe." Eliwood knew what he was getting himself into, but he had taken precautions to it. Both Mark and Marcus had accepted what could happen the moment they decided to send Lyn away. He just hoped Lyn managed to survive.

"Eliwood, I don't take you for a fool. You see, I care not about the other Lycians, I care only for the entrance to not be barred… the rest will sort itself out. You may even… gain a vast amount "influence" over your continent, if you know what I mean." This was it, Eliwood wouldn't take it anymore.

"Who do you take me for?" He had been holding it in for two long weeks, but no more! "Do you think me to be as corrupt as you? Look around yourself! Your country, behind all the shiny jewelry and technology is nothing more than ruins! But you wouldn't care, would you? Fear is the easiest way to rule isn't it?" By this moment, the guards had all but cut his head off, now threatening impalement by their blades. One of the two seeming commanders, judging by her armor, was a pinkish haired woman, one that had transformed her blade into what they seemed to call a "gun" around these parts, if Eliwood remembered correctly, it could be compared with a bow because with a simple press it would fire a ball of steel fast enough to pierce bones, so he really was one click away from death.

"Marquis, this has long since been out of your control. Just write a letter of permit and we'll kindly let you go AND assure safety for your family… you have a son and a daughter in law, have you not?" The attempt on threatening Eliwood only made him burst out in laughter, confusing the room except for his friends before coughing violently.

"You mean to threaten my son? The man who wields the Sword of Seals and is every bit as powerful as I was before this sickness? Make no mistake Mateus, Roy would DESTROY anyone who you would even think on sending to assassinate him." He replied, brimming with confidence. Still, he was wrong, he just didn't know the extent of the powers Mateus could call upon.

"I see, understandable, for one who hasn't beheld the full might of my army… Still, let me ask you this then, if I am so "corrupted" as you so wrongly accuse, why not leave before you had this audition?" The emperor questioned out of pure curiosity, their fate was already sealed in his opinion.

"I wanted to believe the monarch was being preyed upon by nobility, maybe we could help him regain peace, but the moment I saw the paintings and I beheld your dirty, smug face, I knew, you are a monster! You make Zephiel appear sane! Purging of an impure race is madness, but to attend your own selfish desire for conquest at the expense of the world is beyond that!" Maybe Eliwood was going over the edge a bit, even Marcus and Mark were dumbfounded at his outburst, but we didn't see the city, yet…

"Such misguided lambs… take them away, I care not to what cell." He told the woman besides him, standing up and beginning to walk away. "I must say, if you do change your mind, do it fast, passage onto Pherae would only benefit you." Not even that escaped a chuckle from Eliwood.

"I'm afraid I can't even help you with that, I am no Marquis, Mateus, my son is!" He told him as he voluntarily let himself be cuffed. The twisted snarl on the Emperor's face as he realized he had been led was worth it.

The woman signaled their cooperating captives to follow her, they knew they couldn't do anything to resist, Marcus could hardly carry the weight of a sickly man and a tactician, especially since both him and Eliwood lacked their steeds and Eliwood even lacked his trademark Durandal, the Blazing Sword.

"Why?" She asked in a low tone, signaling for them to keep it low. "Can't you look ahead?" Some guards looked at the group, but one glare from their superior sent them straight back to their duties as they entered the prison.

"I understand what you're implying, and no, having a _unified_ world, if you could REALLY call it that, under such a ruler would cause atrocities far worse than wars." Eliwood replied to the unasked question.

"Tsk, you're just like him, that kind of thinking will get yourself killed." The woman replied as she stopped near a cell, commanding guard to open it. "You got company, Spikes." She said, awakening the man in the bed. He was wearing a black uniform with baggy pants, shoulderplates and a brown, marked belt, what really made him stand out though was his completely crazy hairstyle. There were literally black spikes everywhere, hence the nickname, okay maybe not EVERYWHERE, just from the back of his head until his shoulders, a lone strand coming forth. His eyes were also strangely blue, almost too blue for humans.

"So COLD, Light! Is that anyway to talk with a friend on the death row?" Eliwood and his group were shocked, how could he take that so lightly? He was basically a shining sun in enthusiasm.

"Whatever, you asked for this, now all of you, get in." She ordered, turning back immediately to conceal her sadness, leaving the guard to lock them up.

"Old acquaintance?" Eliwood asked of the man after the guard locked them up and went back to sleep.

"Former comrade. Name's Zack Fair, former God General of the Ultima Weapon division!" He replied, extending his hand.

* * *

"Well, that's a surprise, they're all back in shape… And I here was hoping to rest a little." Ike lamented as the group arrived at the camp, now making preparations for departure, it was barely past noon, they could cover some distance till nightfall.

"I'm afraid that can't be so, I even went as far as to use one of my three uses for Ashera's staff for it." Sephiran said, already feeling the comeback.

"You could have waited for me! I'm still ble… wha-?" His arm was back to normal? Come to think of it, Elincia had a profound wound on her stomach on the way there… but when they arrived there was none. "It reaches that far away, huh?"

"Exactly. Now, Ike, I want you to meet our new recruit. Lyndis, she saved your sister from assassination, she's Trueblade by the way, we lack third tier soldiers so we fished her in immediately, I hope you don't mind." He didn't want to send Ike into hyper-protective mode so he changed the subject as quick as he could.

"So you're General Ike? A pleasure." The girl from Sacae greeted, shaking the muscled man's hand.

"Enough with the formalities! Just Ike! Thanks for my sister though." Blunt as he was, Ike replied the only way he knew, this astounded Lyn for one thing only.

"You're not… noble are you?" She asked, still not believing that to be possible.

"Nope, got to General out of merit and… blackmailing." This earned an honest laugh out f the girl and from her laugh that led to Ike's embarrassed frown the laughing bug spread through the onlookers.

"What a weird world this has become. Commoners being BLACKMAILED into generals!" Lyndis mused. "I wish my… country was like that." She was about to say continent, but thankfully, she held back and could point out that she meant Daein. She didn't fool anyone though, anyone who hadn't heard from Ike was CLEARLY from another place other than Tellius. Still, Ike knew that Sephiran would have figured it out by now, and if hadn't intervened, he was waiting for the opportune moment. He could see why though, this girl, on his and probably Sephiran's eye wasn't evil, so, instead of inspiring distrust before the battle, they would inquire her after, made sense. Now, what he had to explain was…

"OH! You got Ragnell! GIMME ALONDITE!" Mia almost demanded, bouncing up and down in excitement. This was what he didn't want to answer. Mia wasn't the only one who was going to discuss his decision.

"I… kinda gave it away already…" Ike replied, scratching the back of his head just as Mia's face twisted into a frown of Satan-like proportions, immediately kicking where the sun doesn't shine. I swear someone in the camp yelled: K.O! PERFECT! While the men grabbed their privates with an "Ooooooooh", mourning of their brother.

"There goes Ike Junior! God, is there a painter here? Please, let it be!" Shinon BEGGED, to which a person who he didn't know appeared and gave him two sheets of strangely feeling "paper"? Still, they were... beyond reasoning. Perfect captures of Ike's grandest humiliation yet, one snatched the moment of the "strike" and other Ike clutched his groin as Mia stood victorious. How such a degree of quality was accomplished in an instant was beyond him.

"It's called a camera junior, come by the medical tent next time we settle down for a discussion of their price." A grizzled old man using a cane told the Marksman, who swore he would do the picture justice and pay the highest amount he could afford.

"Who. Did. You. Give. It. To?" Mia punctuated very threateningly, turning Ike from his ventral position and threatening another blow you-know-where.

"He gave it to one that excels with the sword better than all here but me and him and maybe Elincia. I cannot say anything about Lyn and Ramza." Stefan's statement was a bold one, but he was Stefan, critical, direct, brutal. "I would know, I crossed swords with her. Mia, your technique based on intuition alone has set you back, you need a teacher and real training to break the barrier you are facing, if you would accept that, maybe Elincia wouldn't have surpassed you in just one year." The news were shattering for Mia, who lived by the sword ever since Ashera was defeated. Her subconscious had known that, deep inside she hadn't improved one bit since then, she had used the same techniques over and over, she wanted to fight! Not train! Was her train of thought, it never worked that way. Still, the normally bubbly and bouncy girl found a lone tear running down her cheek, turning back and mumbling a very weak, "okay" as she dragged herself to the edge of the camp, crying in waiting for the trip. Nobody said anything for they knew that while harsh, Stefan was right 90% of the times, if not always.

"Still, who did he give it to?" Lucia asked, her curiosity picked. Well, she just wanted to confirm it.

"He gave it to me." Terra confessed, showing the Alondite.

Silence.

"Ike… how dare you…" Well, this wasn't good, Skrimir was pissed, and lions aren't exactly the image of fluffy kittens. "After what she did? I don't care if she seems as harmless as a baby! The fact is that she claimed hundreds of lives today, not only ours, which we lost ONE HUNDRED, one sixth of our army, thirty of MY men… but she even cut her army by the hundreds, HER COMRADES! How can you trust her with THAT?

"Skrimir. I only need to say one name." Ike had stood up and shook off the pain, this was a serious conversation. "Micaiah. Think." For Ike to say "think" was a rare occurrence, but let's go over what he meant, shall we?

Micaiah joined the fight with good intentions but, by machinations of evil senators was forced to forgo of her will and fight on the wrong side, even resorting to machiavelic tactics which resulted in the gruesome death of hundreds. Sound familiar?

"Even after what she did we talked to her, understood her situation, accepted her apology and made her an ally. Yes, Terra is a gamble, but she is a war changing one. And, considering what I heard on my travels, she isn't a bad person. I actually met an acquaintance of he on them, I just didn't know if she was Terra Branford or just another Terra." He explained, still more mentions to his journey. This had to end.

"Fine! But I have one condition. Little girl, you, me, a duel." Skrimir demanded.

"Huh? Why?" Terra was completely taken aback by said demand, even afraid of what the lion could do to her un-morphed.

"Skrimir, that won't do. She can't control her transformation, if you by any chance trigger it, we might be goners. Using her in the war is already a bigger gamble than ever before, don't worsen our chances." Stefan had proven already, he didn't take sides, he just said what was on his mind, maybe reminding people of an older Soren, now that you mention that, where was he?

"I suppose we can design a platoon that either has mobility enough to escape her should her other side surface or just send her in with Ike… and Elincia for healing." Soren added with a smirk. Was he…

"Soren's playing matchmaker? What is the world coming to?" Ranulf whispered to himself. "That's my job!" Now this was more audible, the camp turned to him and he had to come up with an excuse… fast. "I-I've been learning how to heal! But I guess Elincia would be better suited." Now this was a laugh for everyone, was this the best he could come up with? Ranulf the priest?

"Still, I believe we wasted enough time here, we can talk as we walk, Ike, I want to know all about your travels!" Tibarn exclaimed, he HAD to be excited, if was going to walk and not fly.

"True. Well everyone, it's the third time we are here for many, second for the rest. You know the drill, no "general" Ike, just Ike. No rally needed for now, let's just go." Well, what did you expect from Ike? Speeches? Only when everything depended on it. He could even swear he heard a loud "Ye lazy bastard!" from the crowd. He smiled and shouted "I know!" This was the environment he was trying to create. Equality. The army had to be tight as a family. Ramza was astonished at his approach, but it felt so right he played along. Terra couldn't help but smile, for the first time in years, things were looking up for her. Now, if only he was alright… no, wasn't Celes sent with her army just for this mission….?

"Oh no…" She gasped, letting go of the Alondite, clutching to her chest as she looked up to the sky. "Don't let that happen…" Well, while miracles do happen, they are by no means common place…

* * *

"The sewers should be our objective…" Verus told the running crowd. "But that would be too obvious." He stated, pushing down one of torches besides him. "Sorry for the intrusion Queen Micaiah, but we scouted the entire castle with Magitek sensors, we knew this was here." He grabbed the torch and signaled them to follow, but Vaan had something bothering him.

"Dude, I need to ask you something." He informed.

"If it's about where this leads, this leads to the catacombs where the previous kings are buried. You can trust me on this, Vaan." He replied, thinking to have known what he questioned, but then he realized what sort of information he had released.

"And how exactly do you know my name, monsieur Verus?" Vaan taunted, grabbing him by his shoulder.

"It's been five years, hasn't it?" Verus suddenly said as he turned back and punched Vaan in the head hard. "And you're as annoying as when you tried to steal from Beoulve Manor." He quipped, playfully rubbing his head.

"Knock it off Shin!" Vaan demanded, trying his best to end his attacker's assault, but Zidane had even taken the torch so Shin could get him in a headlock. "Geez, and you're still a bully."

"I take that to heart…" The Mystic Knight mocked as he grabbed his chest.

"So, how's the gang? I know Locke got into out initiative, but what about Ramza, Celes and… Tewah?" He asked, punctuating the last name since he knew how embarrassing it was for the man.

"I get her name wrong ONE TIME and I never get to live it down… Figures." Shin lamented, shrugging. "Ramza and Terra managed to get out." He finished with a smile on his face.

"So THAT'S why you're helping us, no reason to be in the army anymore is there?" Zidane intervened. "Don't look at me like that, Vaan told me how you four only got in to watch over the girl." He said to answer the looks of confusion he got.

"Yeah… four… We should get moving." Shin told them, grabbing the torch and descending. No one really understood why he had said that until they arrived on the bottom of the stairs. Still, until they did Micaiah was examining her benefactor. Shoulder length brown hair, she sore his eyes were brown too, but his clothes were, like Zidane's and the others', very different from anything she saw in Tellius. He was wearing a black overjacket with an unclosed zipper, revealing an equally black shirt bellow. The jacket had dragon-like patterns inscribed in gold trim and had a golden dragon's wing on the back. The pants and the shoes we're pretty conventional compared to the jacket. The pants seemed to follow the form of the jacket and had a golden line trim stamped on the sides. He as shorter than Ike, but taller than Sothe… give or take 1.80 meters, about 5.9 feet. Now that she compared them, his build was very similar to the one Sothe described when he met Ike. Still, even being an acquaintance of an ally, that reaction had made her weary. And she thought to have that justified as, when the stairs had ended and they had entered the catacombs a woman was sitting on one of the tombs, legs crossed and treating her blade. Micaiah recognized her from her imprisonment. Green armor and a white cloak covering her back, wearing protective plate boots and a bandanna on her forehead. She had long blond hair and sapphire eyes, on other circumstances Micaiah would envy that woman's perfectly curvaceous body, but she wasn't one to sympathize with her opponents, she was one to dispose of them if needed. She was about to question and accuse the man from leading them into a trap but the woman spoke first.

"Is this your decision?" She asked flatly, not even sparing a glance on the group.

"You knew this day was coming Celes." Shin replied, drawing the Lightbringer. "I have no reason to remain loyal to such a broken system!" He exclaimed, pointing his blade at what seemed to be a former companion.

"Well then, you know what that means." She gazed upon the group, they were so cold, it was like the blue in her eyes came from them being to frozen glaciers, the room even began to go chilly, but they soon fund it not to be an illusion. "Capital punishment!" As soon as she boomed those words, the exit became blocked by a huge chunk of ice, even so, the sensation of looking into Celes' eyes was still colder than any ice.

"Did she just… freeze the air? Without a tome?" Sothe exclaimed, completely out of his mind trying to find how magic had just been used without a tome or a staff, but then he got an idea. "Is she… branded?" His question fell into deaf ears as the room became even colder. "Don't tell me that these two…"

"Well, what would be to expect from THE Ice Queen? Your judgment is just as cold as your magic." The entire room was now being encased by ice as a bone-chilling aura encompassed the two. "Vaan, get the queen and the others out of here as fast as you can, and…" He grabbed a little box and gave it to Vaan, along with a whistle. "If you see Terra, give her these." He finished, walking up to the woman and staring her in the eyes.

"Micaiah, you know your way in these tunnels?" Zidane asked, grabbing her by the wrists and running towards the tunnel.

"Sort of…" She replied, well, it was true, she didn't exactly like to give midnight strolls on the catacombs containing thirteen dead bodies. "Still, they taught me to use this to take advantage of the secret passage behind the first king's crypt, it should be this way-y-y-y!" As Micaiah turned to point the direction, she was met with the upside down face of none other than her captor, the clown known as Kefka Palazzo. This caused her to reach for the nearest vase and smash it in his face. The jester faked pain and looked at her with a hurt reaction.

"SO RUDE!" He exclaimed in an extremely over the top way. "First you try to go away without saying goodbye and now this? Nonono, girlie, I can see you're just like my former kitty… let me adopt you!"

"Micaiah, out of the way!" Vaan demanded, fearing just what Kefka was going to try, sure enough, pulling out his gun proved to be the better decision as she was able to shoot off Kefka's hand his Slave Crown.

"Pesky mongrel!" Kefka's tone had taken a 180 degree turn, now murderous and cruel. "I'll eviscerate you and show Terra and Ramza your remains!"

"Micaiah, run!" Vaan told her, reaching for his pocket and grabbing a cylindrical object, taking off a circular addendum and then throwing it bellow Kefka's feet. She did what he asked of her and they all ran as fast as they could I the direction she thought the passage to be, a flash of bright light erupting from the flash bang, blinding their pursuer.

* * *

Shin landed on his feet on the vertical wall, smiling as he froze the very air in front of him to block the flying shrapnel of ice that Celes had sent to hound him. Not stopping there he slammed his blade against the wall of ice and sent it flying on the blonde's direction. She broke it in order to avoid collision, only to see him emerge from it with an overhead slash. Thinking as fast as she could, and considering how her breaking of the wall had set her sword too high for a block, she cloaked her hand with ice and a protect spell and grabbed the blade with it. She then saw his other hand shinning with a chilling aura, she knew what she had to do.

"Runic!" She screamed, her blade begging to suck the very essence of the aura as she blocked the blow. She prepared for a disengage as they were seemingly on a standoff, but she forgot one thing. She barely managed to react as she saw Shin pulling his head backwards, she did the same as to diminish the impact from the headbut but it didn't help much. Before she knew it she was on the floor. She couldn't however, let it end just then, so she chanted: "Teleport!" Warping herself to the other side of the room, getting up as fast as she could.

"Still think I'm not worthy of being second-in-line for general?" He asked in a triumphant tone.

"Lucky shot, in forty seven fights you never beat me." She replied angrily. "You only managed to get that spot because you're an amazing tactician, I'll give you that." She had to concede that, maybe Cid was a better one, but a person that could change tactics when the battle he participated in was already underway was an invaluable asset.

"First ten times I didn't even touch you. The second you didn't even try, by the thirties it was just "easy", the last seven fights incapacitated both of us. See where I'm getting?" He had just said all of that as he dodged her sideward slash, grabbing her by the hand easily.

"You couldn't have held back all those times!" Celes exclaimed breathless.

"No." Shin admitted, planting his right foot on the side of her torso, making her fly against a nearby wall. "This time, it's not a spar!" He exclaimed, sinking his sword on the ground, causing a line of icicles to come out of the ground in the female captain's general.

"Runic!" She exclaimed, but the spikes didn't fade and she barely managed to jump out of the way. _"Forgot you can't absorb Spellblade…"_ She cursed herself before noticing the blade that was assailing her. She blocked it while using her free hand to get leverage on the ground. Unfortunately, as one of the Seven Treasures of the Empire, the Lightbringer's power was to condense the power behind the blows it gave and unleash it in a Holly blast at its master's will. At this range and as sudden as it was, Celes couldn't even think about her Runic absorption and took the full brunt of the explosion.

"This time, I have something to fight for and you… don't know which side you're on. That's the difference." He had lowered his sword and held out his hand to her. "What do you say, for old times' sake?" Instead he got a sword swooping right next to his neck.

"_Celes, you stay here and take care of Terra, okay? If you manage to get her out, you know where to find me."_The young male voice resounded in Celes' head, that would be the plan until…

"_You make me so proud Celes!__ I'll be waiting for you to climb higher!"_This voice was older and more collected. At first she had been thorn, these two men had changed her life, but…

"_When I find that BITCH I'm going to burn the steel from the crown right into her head!"_ Climb higher on a ladder like this one?

"For old times' sake you say…? Tsk, just go!" She ordered, throwing him back towards the way Micaiah had ran.

"But…" He stuttered, that was not what he wanted to hear.

"I said, GO!" She was hearing them, the footsteps of tens if not hundreds of soldiers. Without thinking, she blocked the way forward with her ice.

"Wait, Celes, what are you trying to pull?" He screamed desperately.

"My own little revolution." She replied, entering the stairs. "Take care of Terra he said, you know where to find me he said… what part of it did he want me to follow?" She wondered as she climbed upwards. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Once Kefka knows what I did I'll probably be his next guinea pig, might aswell try my luck here." She told herself , the clutter of steel stopping just after.

"Captain, what ha-" The soldier began before beholding the flash-freeze of the pathway behind the woman. "You too? Why? You had everything to become a God General!"

"_Wherever we are, no matter how much we change, we'll look out for eachother, forever!"_

"I never break a promise…" She replied, dauntlessly challenging the entire palace guard. "Come, sleep in death's cold embrace."

"I was so naïve! Of course the guard would know that I would lead them the "less obvious" path!" Shin cursed, punching the wall in frustration. "I just hope they try and give her the same fate as Leo…" A small smile crept on his cheek. "We all know how well that execution turned out." Maybe the smile was out of place, but one must embrace hope and the good side of things once in a while. He knew that, as strict and ruthless the Emperor could be, there was nothing that he loved more than to create a spectacle, he wouldn't let someone as influential as Celes die here, if she did, heads would roll, any soldier knew that. He would want to set an example. At least he hoped so. All his thoughts however were interrupted by the mad cackle he heard resounding down the wretched halls. "HE'S HERE? DAMN IT!" He shouted, quickly making his way through the passage he had seen two days ago. Kefka knew where the exit was, they weren't going to lose him. "But… if I read those blueprints right…"

* * *

"Come out come out wherever you are!" The voice resounded through the halls as Micaiah led the through the catacombs.

"How much further?" Zidane asked as he frantically looked back in search of the deadly clown.

"We should be… AGH!" Micaiah screeched before being muffled by a tight grip.

"Micaiah… No… that's impossible." Sothe said, losing his breath just as he understood what his eyes beheld What should be a mummified corpse of Ashnard, the Mad King held his wife. It even held his Gurgurant, one that he didn't hesitate in using to try and cut down the group. Zidane and Sothe were the first to react, ducking bellow said slice and swiping their dagger's at the Mad King's neck. He dodged… but oh so strangely. It was as if he had no bones, his neck twisted backwards in an impossible angle. Same as when Aran tried to slice his stomach open, his torso bent backwards in a completely impossible way… It took Bartz's intuition to send a bolt of fire above the King, revealing the ethereal strings that held his body.

"They're using him as a… puppet!" Bartz deduced, followed by HIS bone-chilling cackle.

"OH! You found out so soon! I'm impressed!" Kefka remarked, pulling the strings once more to saw Zidane and Sothe into a wall like flies. "Now, why don't you surrender, or else little birdie here goes… caput!" What made him so eerie was how his voice went from cheerful to into such a dark tone for such one word. The way the Gurgurant's curved edge wrapped around the young woman's neck could have something to do with it also.

"Sothe… don't… at least one of can get out!" But Sothe had already put down his dagger.

"Good, good, now for the others ." Kefka told them, he was hearing a little rumbling but it wasn't that… okay not a little rumbling, it was getting bigger by the second. "Christ, can't a man have some peace and quiet while he subjugates… OH WHAT THE-!" The wall besides him had, quite literally, exploded as a giant Ice Dragon emerged from it, engulfing him and freezing the joker to the wall.

"I was right. A lot easier to just… blast through." Shin commented before seeing the damage he had just done. "Did I just…"

"You didn't even plan it?" Vaan exclaimed, dumbfounded how lucky they just got.

"Nope. Well, something good had to come of reading those blueprints, didn't it?" The man replied, removing the giant man's body from the top of the girl.

"Even in death this guy screws us." Sothe spat, kicking the face of the man who had once tried to subjugate the continent beneath his heel.

"Well, not going to waste a perfectly good sword though!" Vaan stated, picking up the massive Gurgurant and tying it to his back.

"Am I the only decent person here?" Micaiah asked, considering she WAS surrounded by thieves.

"I'd say no, but I kinda stole one of my countries most prized treasures half-an-hour ago so that would be hypocritical." The former captain said.

Crack.

"We better get out of here… fast!" Zidane exclaimed at seeing the ice holding the clown crack.

* * *

The group nodded and followed Micaiah and Shin to a double door on the ceiling, stairs leading up to it. They had been running for a surprising amount of time though, five full minutes. This also meant that the ice wouldn't last much longer. That was an understatement. They opened the door, full of hope and relief…

"'Sup." Kefka greeted. Surrounding the "secret" doorway that emerged from a small hill on the outside of the city was a complete platoon of ninjas. Figures, only those could cut them off even with their time advantage. "Now, the escape? Funny. The jar? Annoying, but somewhat amusing. Finding out my Lieutenant was tearing up my army from behind while a person who only joined to slobber over my kitty froze me into a wall? Let's just say… IT MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE MY GUTS OUT! Well, the consolation prize is that this girl over here." He lifted a fragile looking girl with shoulder length black hair and a simple beige robe.

"I'm sorry… Queen Micaiah… Aran." The girl barely managed to say before falling unconscious.

"LAURA!" Aran screamed, trying to run u to her only to be tackled down by five ninjas.

"Yes, Laura. As I was saying, THIS girl, likes THAT guy, so that means that if I make HER puke HER guts out, the expression on HIS face will be… HILARIOUS!" No matter how sick and twisted that was, anyone who knew Kefka knew that this was a light hearted joke compared to what he sometimes did. They couldn't anything even, surrounded by a mob like that. "Now… without further ado…" He created a sphere of fire on his right hand. "Let the party begin!" As everyone tried to get to her, bodies covering their way, as Aran roared in despair, as the sphere got ever closer, the ground just split open, from it arising a giant that quite literally punched the crap out of Kefka, sending the jester flying a good twenty meters backwards, not forgetting to grab Laura. The ten meter giant then turned to the ninjas and with a swing from his arm dispersed them.

"Titan? That's an Esper… but how? Summoning has been completely forgotten… the only bozos that still accomplished it were…" A think mist confirmed his suspicions. "The people of Mist…"

"Oh, I am honored, you still remember the people you slaughtered… Well, next time, be more thorough!" The voice came from Micaiah's side, not that she could SEE anything with that mist surrounding them, but it soon lifted. It belonged to a long green haired woman wearing a matching green dress that only covered the top part of her body, leaving her legs on the open, her boots green boots reaching to her knees almost, all of her wardrobe was adorned by golden and intricate markings, even her hair had two intricate pieces of jewelry on the sides. Well, it was safe to say that, after the danger was over, Zidane would completely freak out, this was, even on his standards, a complete bombshell. "Now, why don't I… return the favor? Ifrit! Shiva! Ramuh! Titan! Mist Dragon!"

* * *

"Ike, would you…" Elincia began. They had already settled down, and were in fact dinning. Well, most had ended by now, but there were three main offenders for them to still be at the table. Ike of course, Skrimir since he WAS a lion and… Terra. Strange? The strangest part was that she as in fact, out passing Ike and Skrimir…

"I know, I know, where do I begin?" Did Ike just… eat less than a girl? Skrimir's look of shame also proved that. "Well, nothing really happened after we left Mastus, we just walked over a mountain, it was though, but we managed. We did however, find a burned down village right dab in the center… never found who lived there. But oh well, we arrived at a new continent! Imagine that!" Everyone eyed him deadly. "Fine, fine, no more sarcasm. It didn't take long to find a city and, by Soren's suggestion, we became mercenaries to learn more of the country. We spent four months from city to city in order to do that. The learning wasn't much however… we knew it was called Baron and that it was ruled over by a King named Cecil, but the rest were details… in four months." He let out frustrated sigh. "We couldn't reveal where we came from after all, so asking it directly was suicide. We were about to give up and come back to inform you, but then we were contacted by some people that had heard of our deeds." Something told them this was about to pick up. "They came and explained to us that they were part of the "Returners" a group that was fighting against the corruption a neighbor country that was going on a conquest spree. Apparently, the reason why people spoke so little was that one year back, Baron had been assimilated. Most of the army annihilated." Terra stopped eating.

"It was me… it was the first time they took off my limiter." She confessed. "My memory is blurry, but Ramza and Shin told me."

"Shin?" Ike asked, curious.

"My other friend." She replied.

"Well, that's for another time. As I was saying, that's why people didn't talk, the walls have ears as you know." Ike continued. "The contract they gave us was huge. There, they don't use gold, they use Gil, which is basically the same thing. Regardless, the pay was One MILLION Gil. Why so much? We had to stop a PUBLIC execution of an Former-Imperial who had protested against the now five year old and formerly secret "Project T-E-R-R-A" no brainer now I know, but they kept shut about what it was, they didn't trust us enough, which was understandable. The execution was going to be held on Dalmasca's capital Rabanastre, the country that the Empire had "peacefully" gained control off. It was made to set an example for anyone who even voiced opposition. Now, the man was a VERY valuable asset for the Returners but what made them pay so much was that… the man presiding the execution was one of the two most feared men on the CONTINENT, one of the two men that never lost one fight, ever. Masamune Division's God General… Sephiroth Crescent."

* * *

Next Chapter:

_The Clash that started the war. When two unstoppable forces collide, what could possibly be the result?_

_The queen of ice wakes to find herself on the care of an improbable ally as her and Terra divulge her past life to their companions._

_A convict reveals that the very foundations of the Empire's power aren't as solid as one could think._

_The Daein Liberation Army is struck with a new breath as the new heavyweights join their ranks._

_Finally, Crimea and Begnion's armies join forces again as they approach Nevassa._

_Next Time: Heroes to Their People_

"_Just how many of the God Generals are on the active after recent happenings?"_

"_You mongrel, I'll cut you down in front of Mother!"_

"_General Leo Cristophe, it's an honor to save your rear!"_

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Well, how did ya like it? Quite a few characters introduced and still many more to come. Now, people who read my other fic would know, Shin's not what you'd call an OC, at least completely, but you'll see what I mean when this progresses, for now, you can treat him as one if you want. Celes might have seemed to take decisions a bit too quickly, but next chapter you'll get an exposition about the "group" that met at Beoulve manor so look forward to that and, if you like it OR have question, don't forget to review, I'll do my best to answer.

**PS:** By the way, before you go apeshift on this, the reason why nobody mentioned Yune was that she is in bird form until the armies unite, she's basically too lazy to introduce herself twice or even three times.


	5. Heroes to Their People

******Author's note:**This story lives! I haven't updated this in a while due to a writer's block, but hey, it's gone, now don't kill me and enjoy the show!

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter Five**

******Heroes to Their People**

* * *

"This might be a little too much, even for us Ike." The cat laguz that always followed the mercenary said as they watched over from inside the palace.

"If it is of any reassurance, my forces will stage a bandit attack against the other half of them. This makes it so you only have to go through about a dozen of their soldiers and of course… Sephiroth." The young woman behind them informed, cringing at the last word. She was about 5'5'' (1.65m) tall, sandy blonde hair and was wearing a simple, silk white dress and an equally simple silver crown.

"Thank you Queen Ashelia… now if you could please show me who is this Sephiroth…" Ike thanked Ashera, or was it Yuna? Were they even fused by this point into Ashunera? Either way, he thanked "god" whoever that was that this queen was more around his line. Yes, she was a lot more direct and cynical than Elincia but she never, for one second, looked at commoners differently, if anything, she had shown restraint against her council especially when she explained just what she was doing.

"You saw Sephiroth already. It was the man with the long silver hair." Queen Ashelia replied, pointing out at the man Ike had hidden from a few hours back.

"Oh right… I remember…" Ike mumbled as he began remembering the events of the afternoon.

* * *

"The execution will be held today at noon, I know it's a bit sudden, but we shall do our best to fill you in before it takes place. You still have almost six hours until it begins and even then it should take about half-an-hour until you take action. I do hope you have had some rest on the Inn before you visited the palace." The queen briefed the trio as they walked through the glamorous halls of Rabanastre Royal Castle.

"Ike... IKE! Did you hear anything?" Soren reprimanded as he looked at his glass eyed friend. How could he have been so blind was all he thought about, Ike would never have an attention span that big inside a castle… with food in it. Even he could smell the breakfast being made, and that would of course throw off any attempt of communication.

"It… it just smells nice…" Ike replied with an embarrassed look.

"Look… Ike… I'll help you this time, but for Yune's sake… PLEASE try and get over that obsession while on the job. I can't count the times I had to repeat myself just because we happened to be in a tavern!" From the corner of his eye however, he did catch a semblance of a smile on the young queen's lips, something that ensured him even more that she was honest and, if it weren't for her position, would probably be laughing at this muscle head's complete ridiculousness.

"I'll try…" Ike promised weekly before hearing a door opening from the food court from down the corridor.

"That man! Ike, Soren, Ranulf, get behind the pillar on the corridor next to ours!" She urged, Soren doing so immediately but Ranulf being forced to pull Ike with him.

"Queen Ashelia… it is an honor." The man greeted with a purely courteous bow, the smirk he gave her left no doubt he couldn't care less about the woman or her status, she was inferior to him. Ike took the time to access the man. He could notice right away, this is a natural born fighter. His presence, the way he moved and how his eyes seemed to be looking everywhere were testaments of his nearly impenetrable guard. After he arrived at the new continent, he noted that, if you didn't count the radically different animals and food, everything LOOKED to be the same, yes, Soren told him the enemy mages never used tomes, but they figured that it was just because they memorized them. Dalmasca was the first turning point. Soren pointed out just how much more advanced even by only walking the streets. The fact that SOREN couldn't understand how anything worked really tipped Ike of. Still, we're going off tangent here, the man Ike was looking at didn't seem to have anything that defied nature to a fight, only a supremely big katana which he kept on the sheathed on his side. Ike noted that people in this continent rarely used axes and were mostly using swords and sometimes spears… why is that? Is it to screw up his weapon triangle advantage? The man was wearing clothes that Ike, as usual, didn't understand what material it were from, but we do, don't we? The man wore a very long black coat with coat tails topped with two skulled silver pauldrons, along with matching black clothes underneath the coat down to his boots. The only pieces besides the pauldrons that weren't black were his silver, bead decorated belt with a strange symbol, a matching bracelet and two white and lavender sashes, one on each side of his coat.

"Spare me the kind words… You can see how I comply with your every demand so please let my country be." She replied with venom on her eyes. Just like Bartz had told Ike, it appeared as if the queen disliked her "merge" with Palamecia.

"Do not fret, I am just here to see that self-righteous fool fall. I'd rather have the person he was defending do it, but unfortunately she has already been deployed…" He replied in a mocking tone, bowing again and beginning to leave only to stop after a few steps to say. "Just one word of advice my Queen. Remember, if we do this to our own kin, imagine what we would do if say, some high ranked noble broke our treaty." He gave another dark chuckle and continued on his path.

* * *

"Seems about right… well then, the execution's starting. Shouldn't you be heading there?" Ike pointed out as the people started gathering.

"I shall… please, save him. We need him alive to stand a chance." She begged with a bow, one that surprised the trio, making them understand just how high the stakes were.

"Don't worry, I never lost a fight I got myself into!" Ike reassured.

"Black Knight." Soren pointed out coldly, to which Ike slammed his head for and told the queen not to mind them.

Twenty minutes later:

"This rooftop is the closest we can go… can you jump from here Ike?" Soren asked his friend, who assured him he could. "Well then, now… we wait."

"Why do you think they picked us, I mean, our reputation can't be that huge away from Tellius…" Ranulf commented, smelling something fishy upon all of this.

"If you're distrusting their motivations Ranulf, while I applaud that I must point out that complete strangers would be their only solution. Sephiroth seems to be… tough to put it bluntly and I do not doubt that any person near his level on the continent must be accounted for, so, after they heard Ike dispatched the lair of the bandits which were terrorizing Baron, one that if we can believe him had well above five-hundred of them considering he broke more than ten iron swords, they must have seen in this mercenary band the only chance they had. Consider also we don't have to defeat Sephiroth, just get General Leo out of the city and into our contractor's hands, this means that if Ike can handle him for a few minutes it is enough. I doubt Ike'll do that, but I believe that while desperate, they planned this out the best they could." Of course all of this passed right through Ike's ears as he was too busy giving into his urge to study the man's movement. His clothing, weapon and overall stance led him to believe he was a Trueblade or some variant, one of the most annoying, but fun ones to fight. It was then that the man with the head covered by a black cowl had his cowl removed as he was made to kneel down by the captors. The man had dark skin but blonde hair and mustache. He seemed to be in his late thirties and was a mess, wounds and scars covering his probably tortured body. Ike could see Queen Ashelia gasp from the distance.

"While the Emperor is a benevolent ruler, even he has his limits, General Leo Cristophe crossed these limits when he tried end a scientific experiment that may grant power over the gods that rule over us to us the humans. Not only that, but he tempered with our experiment for it to malfunction and His insurgence will be punished in the only way possible, a quick, painless death, such is the benevolence of Emperor Mateus. We must have the execution here, in our ally Dalmasca to reduce the risks of Rebels such as the Returners rescuing this threat to society." Ike didn't know what the man was talking about, but his tone told him that he was probably full of shit. Still, he didn't have to hear a lot more as a chocobo as they called them here, started dashing through the crowd.

"Queen Ashelia! The Returners are attacking!" The blonde man on the chocobo urged. "We need all troops to be deployed to the outskirts of Rabanastre immediately!"

"Take every guard you can find General Basch!" She ordered, the general nodding, he was aware of what the plan was so it was alright.

"Your majesty should barricade in the castle, don't you think?" He asked, continuing their already written speech.

"I shall see to the execution, Sephiroth should be enough to keep me alive." She answered, the man she was with sighing in disgust.

"It is true… we cannot have such a… cooperative ruler... die out." And by cooperative he meant obedient, and even that was wrong.

"I understand… MEN, MOVE OUT!" Basch exclaimed, the ovation from the guards signaling Ike to prepare himself. He waited until they weren't in sight and he took some steps back, taking a deep breath before running to gain momentum, jumping off the edge.

"_Sorry for this…"_ Ike groaned inwardly, kicking Ashe in the back as it was programed and with his sword spinning around to take out the three lancers that tried to surround him the moment he landed. "Hand over Leo and the Queen doesn't get hurt!" he threatened, the crowd gasping and shouting insults like "Returner-trash" or generic stuff like that.

"We don't negotiate with rebels!" Sephiroth replied, in one swift motion sweeping at the men and the woman, seemingly not caring for the condition of the queen. Still, Ike already knew that he wasn't going to get anything of the exchange, it was only to be used as an Alibi for the queen and jumped to dodge the surprisingly fast slash.

"You are truly trash, to attack an innocent like that…" Ike told spat at him, laying down the queen who was faking unconsciousness.

"What are you doing right now? You hypocrite." Sephiroth replied, preparing himself for battle as he adopted a pose to suit his massive blade, both hands on the sword just above his head, pointing downwards.

"We don't kill innocent people…" At least Ike thought so, he knew that he may have been duped, but Sephiroth WAS an enemy either way, no doubt about that.

"Innocence? Nobody is innocent!" The man replied, dashing at Ike, who answered his challenge meeting at the center of the platform. The first blood on this war was dropped here.

* * *

"And that's it for today guys! Tomorrow is another day!" Ike announced, much to the distaste of the one listening. It WAS getting late and well, they needed to walk a great distance in the next two to three days to meet up with Begnion, but still, that was a prick move. Lyn sighed and left the tent, but instead of going to the tent she was supposed to, she moved to the other side of the tent she had just left. She found a familiar dark purple haired girl grabbing her knees and leaning against the cloth that held the tent up.

"How did you find me?" Her voice was emotionless and she didn't even seem surprised, if she was, she didn't show it.

"You really took it hard, didn't you?" Lyn asked, taking a seat near the fallen Trueblade.

"All my life was dedicated to being the strongest I could be. I had fun fighting and I loved the looks men gave me when I beat them up after they called women weak… I was always looking straight ahead with no care in the world… look where it got me." She sighed, bringing her head down to her knees. "Stefan was right… giving the Alondite to me would be stupid…"

Lyn cringed at her predicament, not finding the words to comfort her. She felt sorry for her, but at the same time, this was a lesson she had to learn, you cannot achieve great heights without great efforts. But maybe… just maybe… they didn't NEED words. She smiled and pushed herself to a standing position, reaching for her sheath. As Mia heard an unsheathing sound, she found Lyn's katana dangerously close to her eyes when she looked to check.

"Get up, we're gonna train." Lyn told her, looking deep into the eyes of the younger woman.

"Look, I don't want to…" Mia began, but Lyn cut her off.

"Mia, I'm well over thirty, I'm at the age where I teach people like you, now get up and let's start with the basics!" She ordered, Mia jolting upwards in shock and reaching for her katana. Lyn noted right away that Mia's pose was… she didn't want to say BAD, but it wasn't recommended. The way she curved her legs, leaning her body forward and held her katana with both hands sacrificed speed in any possible case except for a lunge, maybe Mia always tried to get the first hit, but even so, that stance would never do for a katana user. "Mia, we need to touch up that stance!" She exclaimed, taking Mia by surprise. "That pose is something people like Mercenaries should adopt, you're a Trueblade, I'll lead, you follow!"

"Successors are found in the most unexpected places…" Stefan commented as he watched from afar with a smile.

* * *

"One bad move, and I torch the lot of you! Leave… now! But you... YOU... KEFKA! I'LL BURY YOU HERE!" The green haired woman boomed, fire burning deep into her emerald eyes. Micaiah had no idea of who the woman was, but she was in no position to be picky. She could see the ninja slowly step back as the beast-like men in flames roared. One move of the icy woman or the thundering old man had the same effect. The dragon however, was standing on the back, probably to defend them. She had it all covered.

"Never thought one of ya still lived… guess Eblan's reputation isn't all that lets on… Fine, go away, see if I care! When you come back, I'll have a little surprise for the lot of you!" Kefka cackled before vanishing in a pile of smoke, leaving the ninjas to run back.

"N-no… Kefka… come back… you bastard…" Just as no enemy was in sight, the green haired woman suddenly began to fall, being grabbed by Verus immediately as she fell.

"Are you alright?" Micaiah asked the woman, noticing that Laura had no staff on her.

"I... I knew this would happen… I shouldn't summon more than two espers at the same…" She began to close her eyes and for some reason, Micaiah felt that if she let them close, they would never open again. Without second thought, she touched the woman directly on her chest and let her own life force flow into the woman, the pain taking her to her knees but she endured it and kept pumping life force until the woman opened her eyes fully. "What have you done?" She asked, unsure of how her eyes were still open.

"I was born with this power… to give my own life force to others…" Micaiah gasped, leaning on Sothe to get up. "Who are you and why… why were you willing to die for us?"

"My name is Rydia of the Mist, and I just wanted to get to Kefka, you had nothing to do with it… I just helped you because I know just how much destruction that man can cause." She explained plainly. She could have easily said she wanted to save them, but she didn't and that told Micaiah just how truthful the woman was being, if she had to lie she would never say that.

"Is that so… do you still want Kefka dead?" Shin asked, intercepting Micaiah's train of thought.

"Why do you ask?" The woman asked back, not sure of what to think.

(Cue "Stalwarts Unite!")

"You don't have any reason to do it alone. If you want, when we invade Nevassa, I'll personally help you to get to him." Shin suggested.

"YEAH! We could use a hot bombshell of a summoner like you!" Zidane exclaimed, not sparing the compliments.

"Well… I guess it would be stupid to try and enter the city by myself…" She began, and the way the ones in front of her lit their faces told her that she was needed there and well, she hadn't had human company for how long? "I'll help you if you help me."

"And the army still grows." Sothe smirked triumphantly.

* * *

A spiky silver haired man ran across the hallways to where the confusion was brewing. The man had a sliver scarf covering his mouth, one that extended into his back, coinciding with his silver cape. His chest was protected by a sleeveless protective leather vest, leaving his well developed arms bare. His baggy silver pants and silver boots of oriental design complemented his color scheme. This man was chanted by the crowds that had the eye to see him as the Silver Flash, Edward "Edge" Geraldine.

"What is going on here?" He exclaimed, breaking up a path on the hallway. Surrounded by more than one hundred bodies, barely conscious but still on her feet was the stubborn and duty driven General Celes Chere. Seeing such a woman still stand with such a flare on her eyes made Edge burn on the inside. Not because of infatuation, yeah he wouldn't mind "getting it on" with her but what really burned him was the fact that she was about to get killed in such an inglorious way. He couldn't allow that, even more so if what his informers had told him about her and the rest of the heads of the Lightbringer Division were true.

"Sir, we are about to execute the criminal!" One of the imperials told him, getting promptly slapped away like little girl by the ninja.

"We will not do that. She will be a great example to anyone who opposes us. The execution will be public! I'll take her to my chambers for now!" Edge knew that to not be found out he had to appeal to the Empire's fetish for public executions to demonstrate power and his own rep as a playboy. Well, he never did much more than flirting, but they didn't know that.

"But…"

"Are you REALLY going to oppose the prince of a nation of Ninjas that specialize in assassination? Do you want to sleep ever again in your life without a knife looming over your neck?" The guard was just a second rate soldier so, of course, he didn't have to courage to say no. Edge approached the woman, sweeping her off her feet while he whispered on her ear: "Just go along with it…" To which Celes responded by loosing consciousness on his arms. "Why do the ones I want never do things like this…?" Edge mused as he carried the wounded general to his room.

* * *

"You're the one who is to be executed for high treason? What did they do to screw you over?" Mark asked as if he knew that he was innocent.

"Mark, how do you know that he isn't really a traitor?" The old paladin Marcus asked of the tactician.

"What if I told you that since my whole character base was to be the faceless guy the people playing the game identified with gave me powers over the fourth wall? In other words, I'm basically the author here, just without the script." Mark, explaining his overall usefulness in the series, said.

"What?" Eliwood, Marcus and Zack asked confused.

**You know, he's kinda right.**

"What is this sorcery? I'm hearing voices!" Marcus blurted, seemingly confused by my voice.

"Nevermind, continue Zack." Mark told the man before the fourth wall collapsed for good.

"Well, I didn't even get an "excuse" they just said I was conspiring with rebels when I refused to lead the charge against the continent to the north. We have no idea if they are hostile or not, but Mateus didn't want to take risks. Good thing my actions obligated him to stop recklessly invading." He explained, to which Eliwood questioned:

"How so?" Zack just smiled.

"Well Eliwood, just how many of the God Generals you guess are on the active after recent happenings?" He asked, to which Eliwood started to think back.

"Well, I saw two near him…"

"Four at most." Mark said. "And no, I'm not cheating. Eliwood, remember when we heard that Sephiroth, one of them had been condemned to the dungeons after some kind of failure? That and how we saw Orlandeu, another one of them leave the room disappointed and distressed? Combine that with the fact that Zack's here and we can reach that conclusion."

"Close but no cigar." He lifted three fingers. "One of us defected."

"So that's why they can't move… if they truly have a rebel army gnawing at a chance to take them down, another loss would end them." Eliwood commented, crossing his arms.

"True. And that's the only chance we have to get out of this mess…" They then noticed Zack was writing a small note as a blue bird jumped on the edge of the prison's window. "Get this to your owner." He told the bird, tying it up to its leg. It chirped and took off. "Now, anyone wants to play some cards?" He asked calmly, pulling out a deck of his own.

"Nothing more we can DO right?" Mark asked, resigning to waiting. "He's going to scene change soon anyway..."

* * *

"My Emperor… Holy King Alm of Barensia has arrived." and A young, clear blue haired man said as he knelt down on the throne room.

"I'll never get that title on my head… I know Chris, did you send note to our most trusted allies?" The equally blue haired man asked. The man smiled and nodded.

"Well then…" The young woman by his side began, grabbing a majestic spear near her between the two thrones, her dark blue hair being caressed by the small breeze that entered the throne room. "I guess we'd better get going!"

"You're right Shiida…" The man replied, doing the same to the golden hilted, thin silver bladed sword that was crossing the spear. "We should get go-"

"Emperor Marth!... Chris…" A blue haired woman with a ponytail, one that could easily be mistaken by the young man's sister sneered.

"Looks like I won this time, Chris." Nope, not a typo.

"I wanted to tell Marth!" She whined, making futile attempts to cut the Hero in front of her.

"A Swordmaster that can't catch up to a Hero, pathe-" That sword was a bit too close to his neck for comfort.

"You were saying?"

"Those two are ridiculous…" Marth sighed, taking his palm to his face at the ridiculouness of two "Chrises" fighting.

* * *

"You're really going to make me tell you while we walk…?" Yeah, as expected, Ike wouldn't get away with it so easily, fortunately, he knew how to. "Hum… Terra, why don't you tell us more about yourself?" He was sorry to do that, but he just wasn't going to comply with every request they tried to push on him.

"M-me? I guess it's only fair…" She stuttered. "I guess you all want to know just what AM I, don't you?" The crowd nodded, Terra deciding to jump and fly over the crowd so that they would listen to her better. "Well, I heard what "Branded" are in your culture, so I guess you can describe me as one… but with the ability to transform into an equivalent of your "laguz form". I am an Esper-Human Hybrid. The first and only of my kind. As such I have unnatural affinity with magic, even to the point where I could fly ever since I was born." She explained, earning quite a bit of gasps from the people that hadn't heard the medic's description of her. "My father was an esper that, despite how he lived on another world, decided to stay with his summoner, my mother and get married. She and him moved away from where my mother lived, at the capital of Palamecia where she previously held my past post because she didn't trust two of the researchers there. Six years later, her suspicions were proved correct when he two researchers appeared in our house, one of them being Kefka and killed her and took me and my father hostage. They planned to… use us as lab rats…" Her voice was breaking at this point.

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to…" Elincia told her softly, but Terra shook it off.

"No, I have to get this off my chest, we can't keep secrets if we are to fight together." That sentence unknowingly almost smashed into Lyn's head and heart, making her feel shame on hiding so much. "Anyway, that didn't happen as two of my mother's most trusted friends, General Leo Cristophe and Lord Zalbaag Beoulve protested firmly against it, saying that using a child for such purposes was beyond inhuman. The former Emperor, god bless his soul, was outraged by this and swiftly decided to release both of us, but he was murdered the following night, obviously by our current Emperor Mateus Palamecia. My father in his weakened state couldn't even move, so, in a last ditch effort, Lord Zalbaag cast a spell on me that colored my hair green and took me into his estate where he was famous to adopt children. He renamed me Tina Beoulve and I started to live with both his younger brother Ramza, his sister Alma, the boy he one day found in the plain alone, Shin Verus, who he renamed Beoulve while he lived there and Delita and Tietra Heiral the two servants that had lost their parents. Zalbaag was a young man of no more than twenty and we lived happily, if not encased on the manor. The manor was very isolated, only another manor and a small town around it. The Chere manor was just in front of it and we met their descendant, Celes Chere, she was a bit cold at first but she warmed up to us. We spent two years together like brothers until Beoulve manor got broken in by two thiefs. Zalbaag caught them and what do you know? They were two eight year olds and a ten year old without a crumb to eat. Vaan Beoulve, Reks Beoulve and Locke Cole Beoulve joined the family. What happened after were five years that were as good to me as when I lived with my parents. Zalbaag was now my father and everyone on the mansion was now my brother…" Her face darkened and Ramza felt that she didn't have to explain what happened again and explained it himself:

"But then, one fateful day when we got home from a day of sword practice, we found…"

* * *

"L-Lord Zalbaag? NO!" Terra shouted, finding her new father figure resting dead on his chair, his clothes filled with darkened blood.

"Hello my precious kitty…"

* * *

"Then Terra was captured and brought to the capital for experimentation. Me, Shin, Delita, Ramza and Alma followed her and entered the army to keep her safe. Reks, Vaan, Locke and Tietra fled to the Returners. There, is that good enough for you?" She asked her savior, who was eating with his back turned to her as a true ninja would never be seen without his mask by people he didn't trust.

"Since you don't want to get frisky, yeah, no problem!" Edge replied, turning his head and winking with his mask. "Now, let's go over how we're going to get you out of here."

"What about you?" She asked, for the first time seeing sorrow in the Ninja's face.

"I don't have anyone waiting for me on the outside…" He replied sadly before a ninja appearing from out of nowhere and relaying a message to his ear.

"Kefka arrived. Now you're going to have to act as a prisoner…"

"Fine."

* * *

It was nighttime and Ike knew that he was going to have to go on as a story teller again, but he didn't put up a fight this time. After Terra finishing up her dish he began speaking.

Ike was dodging Sephiroth's endless array of swift slashes, not gaining a single scratch but also not being able to approach in any way. This annoyed both the men, but Ike was more used to being on the losing side than Sephiroth, who started to use lunges and a lot more dangerous moves to score a hit on the blue haired man. One of them proved to be a massive mistake as he swooped in on Ike after a huge leap with his sword between his legs, him dodging and leaving Sephiroth stuck on the ground. Ike then took advantage of that and stabbed through him, causing a would-be mortal wound on the man.

"_My child… are you to fall prey to humans so easily?"_ A voice resounded inside the man's head as his eyes suddenly became like a snake's.

"You mongrel, I'll cut you down in front of Mother!" Sephiroth roared despite his injuries, slamming Ike away with only one arm and removing his sword from the ground and beginning to launch an array of fireballs and lightings at Ike, who deflected them confused.

"How can a non-mage like you cast spells like this?" He asked Sephiroth as he desperately cut through the barrage of spells, trying to see a way around it. He saw that Soren and Ranulf were almost finished with the elite guards but "almost" was not enough. This distraction proved to be almost his death sentence as only instinct guided him to dodge Sephiroth's running thrust but during the following exchange he soon started to become overwhelmed at the silver haired soldiers renewed and almost sick vigor. As he dodged and blocked he had to step back and he soon rested against a wall to a nearby building. He was out of breath, wounds of unblocked blows piled up on him and left him more open to attacks. Then, he for the first time in his life, left his heart unaccounted for as he tried to strike back in vain. He saw Sephiroth take advantage of his obvious blunder by thrusting into it as the Ettard missed his head. Time seemed to slow down for Ike as he did that.

"_Ike…"_Two voices called for him, his burning body being soothed by one while his heart burned brighter by the other one.

"_Ike…__ do not fall…__"_Ashera, the goddess of Order pleaded from thin air as her light surrounded him and healed his wounds. _"You who defied fate cannot die here and now, join us in the coming fight!"_

"_Yeah! You're the toughest air breather there is! If you lose now we're goners!" _

"_This voice… Yune…__" _He told himself before feeling his body flare up, quite literally.

"_My power! Take it and kick his but! You have a family to go back to! Let them know that Tellius isn't a joke!"_As the kid-like voice told him this, he could literally see blue flames exude from his body, just like not even a year ago. He could feel time speed up again, but he KNEW he was going to win for he couldn't loose after two goddesses put their trust in him.

"_Okay, let's do this!"_He ordered himself as time returned to normal and he maneuvered his body to the left, the blade barely scrapping his chest armor as everyone stared dumbfounded at the man who had just caught on fire.

"Get Leo, Ranulf!" Soren ordered the blue cat that dashed to the unconscious man as Soren blew the three remaining men with one cast of the Rexcalibur, a spell he hadn't use in fear of the side effects the cyclone storm could have on innocent is he missed. "Ike's almost finishing…"

"Wh-who are you?" Leo asked the man who had just turned into a cat as he regained consciousness.

"Ranulf, right hand of Galia's King! General Leo Cristophe, it's an honor to save your rear!" The ever playfull Ranulf exclaimed as he loaded the man onto his back and looked on to Ike.

The Vanguard felt like the words and the course of action just magically appeared onto his head, but he wasn't one to complain as the Ettard described and arc backwards and caught on the same fire he had.

"I'm breaking my limits! GREAT…!" Ike begun, his flaming sword describing the exact opposite arc and hitting Sephiroth, leaving its owner's hand as both it and the black cloaked soldier flew into the air. Ike didn't waste time and jumped after him, albeit a bit surprised at his newfound upgrade to his jumping ability. Still, he shouted: "… AETHER!" as he grabbed the sword and unleashed a flurry of blazing slashes and kicks, finishing in an upwards arc where he grabbed the Ettard with both hands slamming it one last time onto the speechless and burned Sephiroth, plummeting downwards into the execution's stand and causing an explosion that blinded everyone for a few moments. In the midst of the blaze and ashes, Ike looked down, but nobody was there to be found. He assumed him dead and turned his back, running to follow the now retreating Soren and Ranulf, the latter giving him a thumbs up as they left the town leaving only stunned expressions behind.

Okay, we all know Seph wouldn't go down that easy, but let's assume he did.

* * *

"That's about it for the action parts. The rest was just talking, giving Leo to the returners, learning of the assault on Tellius and ridding to the mountains on Chocobos, going to Mastus and finally warping here." Ike finished his narrative.

"That's… beyond words Sir Ike… you can call upon the power of the divine!" Elincia joyfully exclaimed, a mix of happiness and pride welling up inside her.

"You can say that…" Ike replied in embarrassment.

"Well, if it's over… I'll be going to sleep…" Boyd yawned, he had slept through everything not battle related, and while he admired what Ike did, it was Ike, he did stuff like that on a yearly basis. The green haired man made his way out of the tent and slowly walked up to his, only stopping when a weak person slammed into his back. "Hey! Watch it!" He told the slim built cowled person.

"B-Boyd!" The person exclaimed in surprise, Boyd wondering who she was. It wasn't until she spoke again that he realized it. "Boyd! You have to let me see Rolf! I can't live without talking to him!

"The three of us, Rolf included, have nothing to say to you, you disgusting woman." Boyd spat back, turning his back at the shadow of his past but having it grabbed by it.

"I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY SON!" She cried, pulling back her black cowl to reveal her messy dirty brown hair and swollen eyes, you could even see she hadn't slept for days by the state of her facial features and her stomach rumbled, pleading for food. It was pityfull, even for Boyd to see her like this, but he couldn't say anything before…

"Well, I can live perfectly fine without you… even knowing that." The clear green haired teen told her from behind in a neutral, emotionless voice. This shocked even Boyd, who had lived his entire life with him and seemingly broke the heart of the woman, who began sobbing, slowly stepping into Rolf's direction.

"You've grown so much… my baby…" She said in-between sobs, but never expected the Sniper to pull out his Silencer and tensing the rope for an arrow.

"One more step, and you won't have to live without me. But for the wrong reasons." Okay, this was Boyd's breaking point, he had gone too far.

"Bro, chill!" He said in a more casual speech, trying to get through him. It didn't work.

"Leave…" Rolf continued in his emotionless tone.

"B-but…" His mother cried, taking one more step, an arrow sweeping her hair and hitting a pole nearby.

"Now…"

"Rolf! She can't leave now! Look at her, she looks like she hasn't eaten or slept in days! Hell, her feet are BLEEDING!" Boyd shouted, pointing to the woman's bare feet staining the grass bellow.

"Why should I care… she left us for dead once, it's only payba-" He had just been punched in the face by a Reaver… it hurt, a lot!

"Rolf, you can't combat monsters by being one! Show some humanity and feed her and let her rest THEN sending her away, she doesn't HAVE to talk to you! Prove that you are the better person!" He yelled, but his shouts seemed to fall into deaf ears, until a forceful cry filled the vicinity.

"Intruders! Lights on the distance! All men to the north edge of the camp!"

Rolf didn't even share a word as he stood up and left, Boyd on the other hand turned back and grabbed the woman by her shoulders.

"You listen to me, hide! I'll come get you. When I do, I'll give you shelter and food, we will drop you off if we see a town! Now go!" He ignored her objections and raced to the north

"What's the situation?" Ike asked, before seeing the four lights on the horizon, the flapping of leathery wings and feathery ones filling the air. "Wyverns?" He guessed, only to see the creature become clear. There WERE three Pegasus around the reptile but… "That's no wyvern… that's…" He the recognized it, as black as the night, the young king. "Kurthnaga! Begnion, those magnificent bastards! They walked night and day to reach us!"

Old allies rejoin.

In the midst of the commotion that was the rejoining of the two armies, Lyn spotted a shadow entering a small tent full of arms, more specifically staves and light tomes. She quickly made her way there and opened it, revealing a face she thought never to see again.

"It's been a long time… Lyndis of Sacae." The man greeted stoically as if he was expecting her, and only her to see him. "I brought you something you may need."

"Renault?"

Even the ones you'd least expect.

"The camp is there!" Aran exclaimed, pointing into the distance.

"Finally…" Micaiah thanked the gods for her arrival, her people needed her.

"G-guys… MICAIAH'S HERE!" They heard Edward's jovial voice exclaim.

"We're home…" Sothe whispered her.

Reunions are made or promised.

"Master! Your bird has arrived." A silver haired teen told his blue haired superior, who took the bird's note from its paw and bit her thumb in distress.

"Zack… don't worry, help is on the way…"

Even evil makes its move.

"Wake up my pretty…" Kefka muttered eerily.

The wheels of fate are turning. The question is... where will they stop?

* * *

Next Chapter:

_Fire and Havoc, the Daein liberation army is forced into an early confrontation against Palamecia's forces with Crimea and Begnion hours away from them._

_Hatred for his mother may lead him to the depths of hell, will he part with it and embrace the light?_

_An heirloom from the Scouring, again on the hands of someone with its master's ideals!_

_A late arrival, will they be able to turn the tables?_

_Revenge is better served in the midst of hellfire and brimstone._

_Next time:_ Assault on Nevassa! Part One: The Girl With the Blazing Sword.

_"The thousand year old weapon made to slay dragons..."_

_"And I thought there was a limit of how low you could get!"_

_"Airbrethers! Get better, now!"_

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Even more characters join the fray, but three of them might have caught your eye and I'll have to expla-

Shin: Hey, you! Yes you! What the hell are you doing on your own fic, "Mark"?

**To be fair, FE7: The Blazing Sword did ask for you to do that, and I'm only a tactician, c'mon!**

Shin: And what about those two blue-haired ones? They should be based on you by that logic.

**The world can't handle three "Mes", I made them the default "Chris" My units from FE12 to stop the world from exploding, now get back to your side of the fourth wall!**

Shin: THIS ISN'T OVER YET!

Now that that's over with, yeah, that's the explanation for what Mark and both Chris will be here. Now, you know the works, opinions, questions, any and all feedback blah blah blah, hit the blue button, NAO! Also, aye, you can guess who the person Zack contacted is if you A) read my stories or B) account for the hair color.


	6. The Girl With the Blazing Sword

******Author's note:**This chapter… well it came late, but I promise the next one will come out in a week or so, you'll see just why when you finish it.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter Six**

******Assault on Nevassa! Part One: The Girl With the Blazing Sword**

* * *

"What are you doing here Renault?" Lyn asked the mercenary turned bishop. The man closed his eyes before opening them again, turning his back on Lyn. The sound of clanking metal was heard as Renault pulled out something huge from beneath the staves. It was a cloth wrapped object. A big one, so big it had to be a lance, or so Lyn thought.

"The true heir cannot succeed this at this moment. Lyndis, your ancestor wouldn't want his sword to be resting during such dire times. Do not worry about him though, the heir is healthy for now." He answered.

"_My ancestor? What does he mean?"_She wondered. It was then that Renault untied the top part of the blade, revealing its hilt. "Renault! Where did you get that?" Lyn exclaimed dumbfounded. That hilt. That hilt could only be…

"After the War of Bern's Madness, the Shrine of Seals was deemed useless without Brammimond. As you might've deduced, this meant that the Legendary Eight Weapons of Elibe were without protection. As you know, Roy, now King of United Lycia ordered all of them to returned to the closest descendants of their actual owners, never to be used when he learned of the Ending Winter. The Armads and the Durandal were brought to Lycia and arrived just shortly after your departure. I arrived there by mere chance, or was it a call from destiny? That I do not know. The Armads was restless, shocking any person who would try and reach for it. We still do not know why that came to be. The Durandal… The thousand year old weapon made to slay dragons... it spoke to me. It wanted to help, I could almost see Roland himself in it, speaking to me. He wouldn't accept seeing his family, all of Elibe, fight alone while the last bit of him laid useless on a castle by fear of an ancient calamity. You must know, ever since you were one of its wielders." He untangled the rest of the cloth, leaving the massive silver claymore to the eye of the beholder. The long silver edge almost seemed to reflect flames. Lyn remembered the first time she wielded the sword.

* * *

From their army, only Athos stood, doing the best he could to hold back his former best friend Nergal. Eliwood had fallen from his horse, who desperately tried to wake him up. Nino and Jaffar had damaged their weapons in the fights against the four fangs, finally breaking against Nergal's black magic. Florina's Rex Hasta had fallen near the Dragon's Gate while the violet haired Pegasus Rider tried to reach for her fallen Pegasus Huey. Rebecca and Will were out of arrows, only being able to watch. Renault, who wielded the Supreme Light, Aureola, had given all but his life as he tried to avenge his friend, now fallen behind Athos, who had taken his burden with the Infernal Element, Forblaze. Even Hector, who could take an army by himself with the Armads in tow, was struggling to move, a giant crack on the wall he had crashed in. She struggled to get up, like most of the other troops were, but she wasn't fast enough to save Athos.

(Cue: "Everything into the Dark")

"My old friend… behold! The power that power that overwhelms all! Ereshkigal!" He chanted as he fawned his dark tome, the pupil less eye Athos had inflicted to him long ago wandering to every single part of the battlefield. Dark winds and lighting crashed through the whole battlefield, Athos' elderly body barely escaping mortal blows, but not grievous wounds. He was rendered unable to battle as one lightning pierced one of his millennium-year-old lungs.

"Athos! NO!" Lyn cried, seeing their last hope fly away. She began to run to the platform with whichever force she had left on her now frail body, but she tripped on something, falling to the ground. She noticed it wasn't just anything though, as when she checked, it was if her soul flared up. The blade she was looking at now was calling her. Durandal, The Blazing Sword. The sword that killed Ninian… The power to cleave a dragon in one swoop. Without thinking, even though it was clearly too heavy for her, she grabbed it and ran up the stairs.

"Old friend… I believe this is goodbye." Nergal said, taking his arm into the air to call upon the finishing blow, but he found himself having to dodge backwards as a massive claymore tried to cleave him in half. Lyn stood between the Living Legend and the Dark Druid. Said Dark Druid scuffed at the thought of the young Blade Lord actually being a threat. "Little girl from Sacae... You'd do well to vanish. One such as you is no match for me. Not even with the Blazing Sword. Can you even wield it?"

"I… don't know but… the nomads of the plains do not abandon their fellow tribespeople. Eliwood and Hector are my dear friends... Their sorrow is my sorrow! Their anger is my anger!" She slammed the tip of the sword on the ground, holding it vertically since the massive blade was even bigger than her. The handle had to be held above her head.

"Pah… You are not Roland girl, you cannot even swing such a massive blade. Even then, why would you? Were you not Ninian's closest friend?" He interrogated with a sickening smile considering who he was referring to.

"She… NINIAN WAS YOUR DAUGHTER! HOW CAN YOU SPEAK OF HER DEATH LIKE THAT?" Lyn cried in pure rage, the sword itself beginning to expel flames.

"My daughter? A true daughter would have followed my orders. She instead tried to chase after that Eliwood. Serves her right the blade made him kill her." This was the last drop on both Lyn's and the swords.

"Nergal! In my friends' names, in Ninian's name, I will cut you down!" She boomed, throwing the Durandal on her shoulder and charging at the old man.

"Foolish little girl! Drown in the dark!" He answered, opening his book, causing a maelstrom of wind and dark thunders to fill the room. Lyn swiftly dodged the thunders that crashed near her as she made her way to Nergal. Suddenly Nergal used his dark powers to send the broken pillars toward the girl, made a full stop, gripping the Durandal in an inverse position, taking aim at Nergal. He thought she had given up but, just when the pillars were about to reach her, she split in three after images and disappeared. Nergal then felt two shallow cuts scrapping his legs and his shoulder, just before seeing Lyn appeared right above him, Durandal swinging towards his right shoulder. Lyn cut through Nergal's right shoulder, leaving a massive scar that covered the entire area from his right shoulder to his left leg.

"Your payment is long overdue... HECTOR!" Lyn called out from the top of her lungs.

"ON IT!" Nergal hadn't even recovered from the cut when he saw Hector spin his axe in midair, landing with a slam on the ground before jumping through the skies. "It's over Nergal…" Hector said, driving the Armads deep into Nergal's left side, mimicking Lyn's wound.

"I-Impossible! I won't fall due to superficial wounds like these! I am all-powerful!" He screamed in agony, the sound of hooves thundering the distance.

"Eliwood!" Lyn cried, hearing the sound of his horse, she threw the massive blade right at the stairs, Eliwood appearing right then and then, grabbing the sword as he charged.

"NERGAL! THIS IS FOR NINIAN!" The Lord roared as he plunged the blade they inherited from the creator of Lycia right into Nergal's black heart. It wasn't a spectacular blow, it was just the blow that ended it.

"Why? Why must I lose?" Nergal screamed, blood gargling from his mouth, then, the unthinkable happened. "More power... I must be...stronger... I... Why? Why did I... want power? ...Aenir? ...Don't...under...stand... but..." He was crying, from his one good eye he, the heartless monster that wanted to kill every powerful being to absorb their soul, their quintensese, cried for his long lost love. How had he strayed… pity how he's mind had been warped far too much for redemption, the sadness soon gave way to madness. "Gaa... Not like this... I will not die...like this. With my last breath... tremble...and...despair. Hwah ha ha... Ha...ha ha ha…" With his last breath, everything was truly to be lost. The summoning of the three fire dragons was the worst situation for the ravaged army. True terror. It was the one and only time Lyn lost hope. When she, Hector and Eliwood looked upon the three giant dragons. Then, Brammimond arrived and… revived Ninian. We have no idea how he, or it, managed to do it, but he did, at the cost of his own life. She, transforming into her Ice Dragon form managed to get two dragons down before passing out, moment when Athos used the last use of his Fortify staff, together with Renault to give the party a second chance. Then, the second time Lyn ever wielded the Durandal happened.

(Cue *Campaign of Fire*)

Rebecca and Will, taking the arrows from their enemies, together with Nino and Jaffar distracted the dragon long enough for Athos to recover enough energy for Forblaze. The Dragon noticed this and, lighting flames between the four and him, turned to Athos, but he got blinded from the its left eye when Florina drove her Rex Hasta right on his cornea. With a roar of pain it shook his head, sending Florina crashing into the ground. He tried to burn her with his breath but Hector managed to swipe his totally-not-obvious crush away from it in time. Immediately after, Lyn, who Karla had just given the Sol Katti to, along with Karel wielding the Regal Blade started slashing at its wings, forcing it to have to do a 360 degrees turn to get them off. It was just then that the dragon processed it was just a distraction, but it was too late. When he turned his head Forblaze and Aureola blasted him in his snout, the cry of pain being ill heard as Eliwood tried to plunge the Durandal into it. Unfortunately, the scales on his chin were just too hard to cut through without proper strength, so the sword rebounded with a large "clank", spinning in midair for anyone to catch it. That anyone happened to be Hector.

"ELIWOOD! DON'T GIVE UP!" The bulky Great Lord almost ordered his best friend, in one fell swoop opening a gash on top of the dragon's head. "LYN!" He called, the girl reacting and jumping towards him, grabbing the blade in midair, completing another gash on the head, leaving a cross of weakened scales and blood right above its brain.

"Eliwood! NOW, GO!" She hollered, already knowing where the hero would be, her sixth sense told her so as she threw the weapon upwards with all her might.

"This is…" Eliwood grabbed the sword in midair, he and his horse heading downwards towards the skull of the dragon, who was too stunned to move. "THE END!" He exclaimed, plunging the blade deep into its brain before, with a kick from his horse, opening up the skull and jumping off it. It was over. This was the last time Lyn ever fought alongside Hector and the last time she did with Eliwood before he got ill, the flavor of the win still rang deeply in her being.

* * *

(Cue *Together we Ride*)

"I'll do it! Renault, let's represent Elibe on this war!" She exclaimed determinedly, grabbing the sword and tying it to her back. She then extended her hand on the bishops direction, who, after much contemplation, took it in a very uncharacteristic act for him.

"The last step for my redemption… I shall see this war to its end." He agreed. "Can you introduce me to your commander?" He asked of her, but the sounds of people vomiting, burping and music tipped him otherwise. "In the morning."

"Of course."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Rebel camp:

"It's good to have you back Micaiah." The eldest of the late Dawn Brigade told her. They had rushed Laura to a healer and were now conversing at the edge of the tent. The man in his late twenties had short reddish-brown hair with a matching short beard, he wore a dark green coat with coattails. Nolan, the Warrior.

"YEAH! I mean, I would have jumped against all those guards to save you, but Aran insisted he could get you out without killing our own! I see he did it." The only 3rd Tier other soldier of the former Dawn Brigade, the Trueblade Edward. Supporting the normal Trueblade garb, just red, this cheerful light brown haired young man was burning up with passion.

"That and he avoided having us wiped out by going in without a plan made by a good strategist." Leonard told him. The blue garbed blonde Sniper was the mediator for "Eddie".

"The original Brigade is all here…" Micaiah commented nostalgically.

"When this is over… you should visit us more often. Being King and Queen really wears us out. We want to be ourselves." Sothe confessed.

"But first…" Sothe already knew what he was going to say and interjected.

"We have asses to kick!" This wasn't very common for him to go to such lengths of enthusiasm, but he had been too much repressed. He was about to let go of some steam.

"Micaiah… I'm glad you're safe." The red armored Wyvern Master that they knew as Jill greeted. "HAAR!" She called, already knowing that her husband would be dozing off in his wyvern.

"Huh? Oh, hey Mica." Haar, the only Wyvern Lord in the continent greeted.

"Glad to see you haven't changed." She replied truthfully.

"We're here too… Well, Ilyana is eating, but you get what I mean." The Swordmaster clad in violet, Zihark told her.

"Together. We shall be victorious." Pelleas, who had escaped court and raised the army by himself agreed.

"Glad to see you are alright." Micaiah told the former King of Daein.

"Do not worry yourself, I won't die. Not after you spared me." And with that, the Dark Sage took them to the strategy room where they found Tauroneo and Fiona, the general and the paladin.

* * *

"Yo Shin." The man turned at the voice of Vaan as he was having a bit of roasted pork to replenish energy before calling it a night. He barely grabbed the objects thrown at him. "Those are yours to give." He simply said, sitting beside him and grabbing a piece. "So, what are these all about."

"The whistle is a birthday present, two weeks late even… It's a chocobo whistle you see. There's a reason it's golden though." He said, observing the whistle.

"You don't mean…" Vaan gasped. Normally, whistles were colored to match the color of said chocobo, that meant…

"The first one to blow it becomes like a parent to the baby. Poor girl, she's stuck on the forest home I made her. She should still have food for some weeks though." He explained.

"If she knows you, wouldn't the chocobo see you as her father… OOH! Slick. Very slick." He nodded in understanding.

"You overestimate me. The chocobo wants nothing more than to pick on me." He lamented, waving his head. "Still, yeah, maybe that's just how she is. I didn't realize what I was doing until she cuddled to me for the first time."

"Anyway, I won't prod into your unknowingly well-formed plan more. What's in the box?" He pointed at the small, cubic… box… wait a second. "WHAT. IS. IN. THAT. BOX?" He had been found out, not a reaction would come before Vaan snatched and saw the small object inside for himself. "You sneaky…."

"It's not what it looks like!" Shin shouted back, sliding the box out of Vaan's hands, who just laughed.

"I'm going to LOVE seeing this unfold. Don't worry, these lips are sealed compadre." He teased, leaving the bonfire, the female soldiers passing by wondering why the man was staring at it with his face painted red.

* * *

Boyd was walking around camp with Rhys in tow, trying to find the feeble woman he once called his mother. Truth be told, she was only Rolf's mother, but either way, she had been his step-mother. He wasn't, by any means, trying to forgive her. No, after she left him and Rolf with their terminally ill father for another man, who by the way seemed to have dumped her, was unforgivable. She may have regrets, but who could say for certain? Still, he found her rather quickly, she wanted to be found after all.

"Boyd… have you…?" She began asking, but Boyd wouldn't give her the time of day.

"Look Teresa. You. Are. Not. Speaking. To. Rolf. Got that?" He punctuated every word for emphasis. "This is how it's gonna be. Rhys here will tend to your wounds. I got you some loafs of bread, a bit of meat and some water and will support you until we are in Nevassa. After Nevassa, I'll personally pay for a rider to take you home. Until then, I suppose you aren't of any use, right?" He asked, the woman shaking her head.

(Cue *With us!*)

"NO! I learned how to use tomes… Dark tomes." Boyd let out a blaring laugh at her response.

"How fitting. Well, Dark Mages are in very high demand… Alright, you're in. Just understand that you'll be fighting for your life." The Reaver continued, slightly surprised that coward had actually tried to make herself useful.

"But, why can't I talk to my son? I'm even risking my life for you now! I won't ask for payment or anything like that!" She was beginning to annoy Boyd by that point, but a very calm but also cocky voice intervened. The last one he expected.

"I agree. He has to stop running." Boyd looked back and from the shadows appeared two men. One, clad in green royal armor, light green hair and squinty eyes, to the point you couldn't tell which color they were or if they were even open, and the other, a dark green vest with light brown trousers and magenta hair tied in a ponytail by a dark green sash, matching his eyes.

"Boyd, Rolf is being a child. He has the right to be but… to shut away everything like this just isn't right. Look, I can't forgive Teresa for the harm she has done to our family, but Rolf HAS to confront his past." Oscar, the green Silver Knight and the eldest of the three brothers told him, giving a short but heavy glance to the blond woman, who didn't even thank him, she knew he would abhor her gratitude.

"Yeah but…" Boyd began, but the Marksman interrupted him.

"Look, my family was crap too. My mom never hugged me. For a while, I never wanted Rolf get near HER!" Shinon wasn't a person to hide his disgust with people, the glare he shot her could make little children cry. "But she'll just keep coming back. She's obsessed Boyd, if Rolf wants to get rid of her, he must do it himself. HOWEVER…" He turned to the woman and seemed to be glaring into her soul as he said that. "Tomorrow, after we make our stop, we will lead Rolf to you. We will do NOTHING if he reacts violently. Considering what I saw when Rolf met you earlier, that's quite a risk. Are you willing to put your life on the line?" He asked, being slightly surprised when the thorn woman nodded immediately without hesitation. "I'm surprised, I really am. You'll get your talk tomorrow."

* * *

"Well, well, well, who do we have here? A dirty, stinking traitor that's who!" Kefka scuffed in a tone as dark as the night, grabbing the kneeling Celes by the chin before throwing her away and sitting on Daein's throne. "Tell me woman, what's in it for you? The girl's safe, she's as big as an asset to the Returners as it can get, but I don't understand why would you stay back? To save them? Half of them aren't that great and the others are from a continent you shouldn't give two shits about. Why?"

"You could live another lifetime and you still wouldn't understand…" She spat back, slowly putting herself back on her knees.

"Those are some hard words my dear… you're going to make this old man cry…" Kefka replied with the return of his trickster tone. "Anyway, the rest of the army is arriving in three days. When they do, say goodbye to your pretty little head. Until then, off to the solitary cell!" He ordered, turning his back on her. "And don't think we're gonna miss you, this guy over here will be the commander… if he does good he might even occupy the position Terra left open. Right static face kid?" Wielding a massive broadsword and dressed in a light blue uniform with a gauntlet on his right hand was the spiky haired former mercenary that Celes had met and spared so many times.

"I'm disappointed… Cloud." She spat as the guards took her away. The young man did show disgust when he looked at the clown, but both he and Edge had just watched silently, knowing they could not, and would not revolt considering their families and friends already inside the Empire.

* * *

The night was a night well spent for all of our other heroes, either by partying till dawn or simply sleeping outside of confinement for the first time in a long time. But still, across the seas, the tendril's of fate still spread. A young king was trying to sleep alongside his queen, but little did he know that this sleep would be hill fated. He woke up in what seemed to be the midst of a battle. Dark ruins surrounded him, but his dream-like state stopped him from noticing much else. The short blue haired man found himself on a horse, his horse, Freid whose head was covered by a blue mask. The man found himself wearing the armor from one year ago. Light blue plate armor covering the top part of his body with golden lines on the edges, white trousers that were made so he could guide the horse more freely, his armor was also designed with mobility in mind, the finishing touch being a dark blue cape on the outside while the inside was red. He looked upon a violet robbed young man about his age, the fragile exterior telling him just who he was.

"Tell me Ephraim... Do I look like I've grown stronger?" The light violet haired man asked, expectation in his purple eyes. "Before, I was too weak to test you." He clinched one of his hands in relative anger. "Why, I was so weak, I even lost to Eirika..." He confessed, lowering his voice into a darker tone as he said: "But now, I've grown strong. I've sacrificed the lives of many good people…" This boast made him shudder, not that he would ever show him that, but it was just like he had been stabbed in the heart. "I've become strong enough to defeat even you, Ephraim." His life-long friend, consumed by darkness…

"No you haven't. You're still no match for me." Ephraim replied darkly, tightening his grip on his spear the Siegmund. The line between dream and reality had blurred for him. "You were never one for combat. It's not in you." He gulped and let his eyes blink. He had to do this. "You should've never chosen this path." He pulled the reins of his horse and prepared to charge. His opponent just watched him in silent accusation of fallacy, his hand reaching for his dark tome. "... Here I come, Lyon." Ephraim closed his eyes for a moment, already mourning his friend, and rode on, as the horse jumped, so he did he from his bed.

"Lyon!" He cried as he jumped of his bed. "Just a dream…"

"Ephraim? Are you alright?" His wife, who had already tied her dark blue hair into its usual long pony tail asked. Ephraim also noted she had donned her battle-focused dark pink and white armor. "A nightmare about Lyon huh?" She guessed, sitting on his lap and combing his hair gently. "What did you see?"

"The way I… the way I charged at him like an enemy. At least I didn't have to relive my fail though…" He replied, leaning his head on her chest. This was the one thing that almost made him cry. "I… made Eirika do it… I couldn't do it myself!"

"Ephraim… that Draco-Zombie stood in your way. There was nothing you could have done. "She tried to console him, but it just wasn't enough.

"They… they loved each other Tana, and I made them fight to the death! Eirika had to KILL him!" He tried his best not to cry. It was just not him. "But… you're right… it's the distance past now… I wonder why it came back now though."

"I don't know Ephraim… but I have to ask you, would it be alright with you if I flew to Frelia right about now? Innes asked me to, they seem to be having problems." That picked the young King's interest.

"Problems in what?" He asked.

"The borders." She replied hesitantly, she didn't want to answer because she knew how he was going to react.

"But WE'RE the only ones directly bordering Frelia!" He protested, Tana knew she had no choice then.

"The other side…" She revealed, but that only confused Ephraim.

"But the other side is just sea!" Ephraim exclaimed bewildered.

"Not anymore…" She finally confessed.

* * *

Back in Tellius though, the day was being monotonous to say the least to everyone. Just marching and marching. To be fair, the only thing I believe it's worth noting was how Lyn managed to disguise Renault as a traveling priest she knew from Daein. Well, it was more like she spewing excuses and the group going along with them until they actually asked her for the truth later on. Now? Now we join Elincia as she guided Gwydion to land right by Lyn's side, accompanying her pace.

"Your name… Lyndis was it?" The queen asked the nomad woman.

"Yeah. You're… Queen Elincia right? What does your maj-" She stopped talking once Elincia raised her hand.

"Just Elincia please." She asked. Lyn smiled and complied, the last noble to do that was… Eliwood if she recalled.

"Okay, Elincia, what do you need?" She asked, the queen looking to either side of them to make sure nobody was listening.

"Soren told Ike you would be accompanying the forward group together with me, Terra and Ike. Supposedly, you would be protecting me but…" This time, it was Lyn that interrupted her.

"You want me to keep a look on your boyfriend since he's too hot headed for his own good. Don't worry, I've dealt with another hot head before, I'll be ea… Did I say something wrong?" She teased. Oh she knew what was wrong, Elincia's sword hadn't become the most interesting thing in the world to her. "Is your sword really that interesting? I mean, I wish I could use it, but why are you…"

"He's NOT in a relationship with me, okay? We're just…"It was so funny for Lyn to see her like this, the red contrasting the emerald hair, that and it was just too familiar. A shy girl on a Pegasus denying attachment to the hot headed general.

"You know, Florina once told me the exact same thing from a Pegasus just like that. You know what happened? She ended up marrying that numbskull Hector and has a sixteen year old daughter now." She replied, the blush on Elincia's face just exploded after that. "But I'll do it for you, IF you do something for me…" She slowly drew the Durandal and laid it o the ground vertically. "If I ever see a dragon with this sword on my hand… odds are I'll go berserk and try to kill it, no matter if it's an ally or not. So please… if I do… sever my right hand." Elincia could tell the woman was serious for that. She didn't ask any questions, she just nodded silently while hopping no goldoan got near them.

* * *

Nothing special happened during the rest of the trip, it only got interesting latter on, when Shinon was to lead Rolf to a "target practice" in the left side of the camp. Of course, Boyd had unwillingly brought Teresa with him and hidden her behind a tree while Oscar pretended to be practicing archery with him. He never had gotten to use bows, but Boyd did learn how to, so it made sense he was learning from Oscar who had S-rank at them… what, it's true! Just because I broke the four wall by saying stats doesn't mean anything! Anyway, Rolf arrived.

"Hey, Uncle Shinon, you think I'm close to becoming a Marksman like you?" The little archer interrogated, to which his "uncle" replied:

"You just need that push. You've gone as far as a Sniper can go." He replied. By push he meant the emotional or physical strain needed to promote. His? He promoted during training, his drive to become better than Ike paid off, he was even the strongest man in the whole army save for Tibarn for a month or two. Then Ike got granted a promotion by Yune herself… it all went downhill from there. From Stefan appearing to Elincia going all try hard with Laguz Royals in the mix. Heck, even Gatrie and Titania almost caught up with him, not to mention Mia. Still, Shinon swore to kick logic down the curb and do the impossible to defeat Ike. But this was not the time for it, was it? "Rolf… there's something, I, as your teacher, want you to confront. It's a glaring weakness that must be taken care of." He began, Oscar and Boyd noting what he was leading to, stopped shooting.

"What is that weakness Uncle?" He asked curiously, not knowing just what he was getting in to.

"You'll have to figure out for yourself. The best example from that weakness is right… there!" he pointed to the tree, from it emerging the adult woman in her thirties.

"Rolf…"She was prepared for when Rolf's first reaction was to get his bow and point an arrow at her head.

"Why is she here? Uncle Shinon, Oscar, Boyd?" He interrogated, feeling betrayed. "Don't move!" He warned as Teresa tried to take a step forward.

"Yeah, that's totally what happened! Ike just… what's that?" Mist wondered as both her and Terra stumbled upon the ingoing scene.

"Rolf, as your teacher, it's an order. Talk to her, shoot her, anything you like, she's been warned. Interact with her." As soon as Shinon finished that Rolf shot an arrow that only missed his target by millimeters. What really left Rolf baffled was how Teresa not even blinked when he fired it.

"How…?" He asked, grabbing another arrow.

"Rolf… I'm sorry." She apologized, taking another step forward. Rolf hesitated.

"Like I can forgive you! Why did you want to do this, why did you want to talk to me? Don't you understand? If I refused to do it, it's because I don't care what you say!" Shinon and Mist scuffed at that. They had seen this side of Rolf before.

"I don't want you to come with me Rolf… I don't even want your forgiveness. Just, please, let me fight with you, I've heard how you are mercenaries, I'll join in, I'll carry my own weight! Please… I even learned the way to fight that you needed the most." She pulled out her Dark Tome. But Rolf just wouldn't accept it.

"YOU? Fight with me? You would probably run away when things started to get though!" Well, no one there could blame him for saying that.

"Rolf… Shoot me." She replied with a heavy sigh. "I won't dodge, I won't even move, I won't run. If you hate me so much, hit me right between the eyes… if you don't, miss, I won't even blink." She stared at him with sincere eyes and let go of her tome, opening her arms like a cross.

"You better dodge! Because this is going right between the eyes!" His hands were shaking, but then he remembered how his father died from the heartbreak she caused him and how if it weren't for Oscar, they would've gone the same way. Against all expectations, he shot, but this shot.

"That's not going to miss!" Terra exclaimed, jumping from their hiding place and grabbing the arrow a mere inch from the woman's forehead. "What were you going to do?" She yelled, infuriated that she was about to see a teen kill his mother like that. Even Oscar, Boyd and Shinon didn't expect that, the former alreay rushing o the woman, thinking she would not survive.

"W-WHY DID YOU STOP ME? SHE… SHE!"

**SLAP!**

Rolf was too focused on yelling his heart out to notice Mist rushing to his side and damn near crushing his jaw with that slap. He sat there, looking up, dumbfounded.

"You're just a big BABY!" Mist screamed. "This is just like four years ago! When you first started fighting I told you that your enemies were people with feelings and lives, not target dummies. You just screamed that you didn't want to know about it and ran away! This is what you do Rolf, you always opt the easy way out! Face your problems for once!" Okay, Mist NEVER got angry, even Shinon had a surprised look on his face when he saw his former commander's daughter like that. Still, he scuffed it off and complied.

"SHUT UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" Rolf shouted back before he could speak.

"She's right Rolf. That's why I brought her here Rolf. To show you what you lack. You lack a cool mind. It was the same with Lucia's execution. During stressful situations, you break. I think that you should retire after this battle, it will be safer." He didn't go soft on him, it wasn't Shinon-like to do that.

"Boyd… Oscar… You understand me, right?" He pleaded, but both his older brothers just shook their heads, agreeing with Shinon. YOU GUYS CAN ALL GO TO HELL! I DON'T NEED YOU! AND YOU! YOU TOOK MY DAD AWAY! AND NOW MY BROTHERS TWO? I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL!" Rolf screamed, throwing a nearby rock against his mother and sprinting away, leaving tears in his wake.

"That… could have gone better." Oscar commented.

"He still needed to hear that." Shinon finished emotionlessly, turning from them and going to the food tent.

"Shouldn't we…" Terra asked, but she felt Mist's hand touching her shoulder as the girl said.

"He'll get over it. Stronger than ever." She smiled and Terra was forced to smile back. Time would tell.

* * *

The next two days were uneventful. At the Rebel Camp Shin told most of the Empire's formations to the groups, even designating strategies with their help and Micaiah's, but, Haar, the black clad dragonlord soon informed them that they had been changed, forcing them to just wait for the rest of the army, hoping for the best. Back at the marching army, besides an amusing scene I'll transmit, it was mostly the same.

"So… your father is getting better?" Terra asked Leanne. Non-surprisingly, the two peace loving delicate girls had formed a strong bond in the small time they were together, they and Mist spent those days together, helping Leanne use common language better while also retelling Tellius' story to Terra.

"He... will… be fine in months." You could tell Leanne had to think it through, but mist was overjoyed to see she had reached this level of fluency in so little time.

"You're getting very good at common language Leanne!" Mist exclaimed, jumping to hug the Heron.

"Thank you Mist… I owe it all to you." This was perfectly fluent of her, which made Mist suffocate her even more.

"My, my! What is this? True beauty! I have not seen such beauty in a year! You… you are my beautiful Leanne aren't you? How have you faired in the midst of your marvelous kind?" That voice made Mist shudder. The one ally she didn't want to have in their army. The big, obese man in violet gown with a yellow cape, balding, only his mustache remained. Oliver, Duke of Tanas. Self-proclaimed most beautiful beorc in existence. Stress the self-proclaimed.

"I've been well… Duke of Tana." Oliver let the syntax error slip, advancing towards the Heron, still, Leanne didn't want anything to do with the person who once wanted to own her and her brother for him to admire and she stepped back.

"Oh… don't be afraid my beauty, now I understand that if you truly love something you must set it free! Just let this old man give you a little caress." He continued to step forward, even at Leanne's protest. This caused Terra to stand in-between them.

"Stop! Leanne doesn't want this." Terra exclaimed. The duke was taken aback, but not by her intervention.

"B-beautiful… nay… PERFECT! I am no longer worthy of the tittle of most beautiful beorc!" He exclaimed as he fell to his knees.

"What…?" Mist asked, sweatdropping at his reaction.

"I am truly fortunate… to behold the sight of the most beautiful Laguz and the most beautiful beorc… Give this old man some time please…" He implored. Then, they arrived.

"Sister… has this old crone been bothering you?" Her brother, the royal heron of the hawk tribe Reyson questioned.

"Duke of Tanas… Leanne is quite shy, you must not importunate her like that." Rafiel, the heron without control of his wing added. This was too much for the Duke. His eyes watered as a shining light entered them.

"In such a small area… so much beauty… please, little plain girl, stay away for some moment. Once in my life I want to behold… the epitome of beauty!" He told Mist, obviously making her cringe.

"What do you mean? I'm beautiful too!" She protested angrily.

"You? Do not jest little girl!" Oliver replied. Unfortunately, as Oliver irritated her, Ike arrived at the scene, curious about the ruckus.

"What's this all about?" The vanguard asked. Oh, how he regretted that.

"IKE! TELL HIM I'M BEAUTIFUL!" Mist shouted, jumping to Ike's shoulders.

"Wha-"

"AM I NOT BEAUTIFUL?" She hollered, shaking his head repeatedly.

"Yes Mist. Of course you are." Queen Elincia told her softly. This seemed to calm her, up until Oliver fainted from:

"Without the girl… this beauty is too much…" He mumbled as he fainted. Ike thought he had beheld the devil just then.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Mist cried.

The following content is too violent for anyone. In order to preserve your mental condition, let's just say Ike had to be carried on Elincia's Pegasus the rest of the evening.

If such peace could last…

* * *

"Sir, the army is here!" A nameless soldier told the most dangerous man to ever cross his eyes. It was orders after all.

"Good… prepare the bonfire." He replied with a diabolical smile.

"What bonfire sir?" He asked back. Kefka grabbed his shoulder and led him to the balcony, extending his arm to point out at the city.

"This one…" He said darkly.

"R-right away sir…"

* * *

"Sothe… can you smell that?" Micaiah asked her husband after waking up in the middle of the night.

"Wha… Now that you mention it… it smells like something is burning…" Sothe commented, worried to a small extent. "They can't be cooking food at this hour. I bet some fire mages screwed up in training." He dismissed. He couldn't be farther away from the truth.

"QUEEN MICAIAH!" Pelleas, exclaimed, jumping into the tent. "NEVASSA BURNS!"

"NO!"

Micaiah left the tent to find the entire army swiftly making preparations for battle, just in case the fire was a warning for what was to come. On the horizon, smoke rose from the lit city.

"And I thought there was a limit of how low you could get!" Sothe roared as he saw it.

"Status!" She ordered, only Shin going to her.

"I would love to say I was surprised by this, but I'm not. Kefka is burning the city to MAKE us interfere." He stated, Micaiah's direst expectations coming true. "The Crimean reinforcements should be here by dawn, but Nevassa will be ashes by then. Micaiah. I'll be sincere. The best way to WIN is to wait. But, are you really going to do that to your people?" She knew what he meant, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Risk it all so she could save a small fraction… was it…

"HEY! Don't tell me you're having doubts!" A voice she thought she would never hear again shouted. All of a sudden, a medallion fell right by her feet, exploding in blue flames. "I had a bad feeling about this and boy was I right!"

"Yune?" Sothe gasped, since Micaiah couldn't even open her mouth. Of the people there only Haar would have seen her true form at the top of the tower of guidance… but he was sleeping. A collective gasp filled the crowd as they realized just who they were seeing.

"In the flames! Now! Let's do it like this, I'll upgrade the people who deserve it and you go there and start buying time, got it?" She exclaimed. Micaiah was taken aback but nodded. "Okay! Airbrethers! Get better, now!" She exclaimed as the skies opened into a golden beacon of light that enveloped the whole Dawn Brigade, Jill, Tauroneo, Fiona, Pelleas, Zihark and Ilyana. However when Edward and Aran were left out, they realized just what was happening there.

Nolan gained spikes on his shoulder guards and a fur coattail on his waist. Leo's shoulder-pad became much more prevalent and his jacket also gained coattails. Zihark gained a vest just like Edwards but in his color scheme. Ilyana's vest became a robe. Jill's armor became spikier and tougher looking, just as her wyvern, which even seemed to gain muscles. Laura's robes also grew. Fiona's armor grew brighter and more prevalent as her horse gained a silver one, complete with flags. The same happened to Tauroneo who now resembled a walking fortress. Pelleas' robes became like Ilyana's just following his scheme.

"There! Third tier, all of you! Happy?" Yune said almost like a brat, who am I kidding, her voice was just like one at this point.

"Yune…" Micaiah began. "I can't tell you how grateful we are that you would come to our aid…"

"Save it Micaiah, I already did it once, twice isn't so different, is it? Anyway, I'll go warn Ike now, when I come back, I expect a third of them gone." She said energetically, adding "NO BUTS!" As she transformed into a bird, rushing to Ike's marching army. It was a lucky thing they had decided to march through the night today so they would be there after dawn. Still, they would need to up the pace.

"Well... you heard our Goddess. Our home is crying out for salvation! FOR DAEIN!" Micaiah cried, sending a light sphere to the heavens, bursting into the light of hope.

"**FOR DAEIN!**" The army cried as they charged towards the city. There were no guards at the gates… The front force easily broke through the now weakened gates, still, Micaiah had an awful feeling about it. No archers, no mages, nothing. Did they really send all of their army to Ike and got slaughtered? Unfortunately, not so. The front platoon finally entered the city. Deserted. No, I don't mean it wasn't full of grieving mothers and despairing citizens, there were just NO soldiers. The lack of the made them have to move forward. When the street was full however.

"Y'all fell like sittin' ducks!" A black haired female with a strange accent exclaimed from above. It was then that they noticed it. Above every building, hidden among flames and debris… catapults.

"IT'S A TRAP!" Tauroneo boomed as the rocks began crashing on top of the army.

* * *

Half an hour later, at the head of the army:

Ike was making his way towards the city in question, completely unaware of it until… well Yune made quite the flashy entrance. Right in front of the army, a giant pillar of blue flames. In-between the shock and awe that followed, Ike stepped forward, knowing just who it was

"Ike, you need to tell these guys to move faster!" Yune proclaimed, the army staring dumbfounded as the flames died down to reveal the little girl only a few knew as the Goddess.

"What happened Yune?" Ike asked, kneeling to look her in the eyes.

"They were forced to start fighting! They can't handle it Ike, they are just buying time!" Yune sounded really desperate. She obviously didn't want to worry Micaiah and the others before they fought.

"This is awful! Pegasus Knights, prepare for…" Sigrun started, being the capitain of the Holy Guard.

"No! We can't go by waves." Ike stated. "If we do, and the flying force falls before the army arrives, we'll be anihalted. Soren, how much do will we take to get there?" He asked, the mage putting his hand on his chin and replying:

"If we heighten the pace... give it or take three hours." He replied.

"Good… Elincia, I need Gwydion." Ike asked.

"Why?" The queen asked, not wanting to let him go alone.

"They know me, my presence will make them think twice, I beat Sephiroth remember?" He made a valid point, but Lyn made one even more valid.

"What about we send the original squadron? Me, you, Elincia and Terra?" She suggested, Stefan nodded.

"Think about it Ike, if Terra does lose control, there will be less people to get hurt." Terra nodded at that.

"Well… Terra, I guess you could carry Lyn and Elincia could ride with me." He scratched the back of his head, to which his sister giggled, annoying him to no end.

"Well then… GO! We need to get there fast!" Yune exclaimed, and like lightning… they were off.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later they were already flying above Nevassa but what they saw was not encouraging. The gates were a bloody mess of bodies and, where there were fights, the Empire always seemed to be at a numerical advantage. They only way to turn this around was…

"I can feel him… he's there!" Terra roared, her eyes blinking red for a second before she controlled herself. She pointed at the central square, where a small group of people stood, one of them kneeling. Terra recognized the blonde woman easily even from so far above and urged Ike to go there.

"Let's make an entrance that'll fill them with doubt!" Ike exclaimed. The other three females nodding, they all started to dive bomb the plaza. Before anyone noticing it, Terra shot a fireball into the middle of them, which exploded above them, just for the smoke. They entered the smoke and landed. The first thing Kefka saw was Ike standing between him and Celes while Elincia and Terra guarded her sides, Lyn guarding their rear.

"Look who decided to show up!" He exclaimed with a sickening joy. "LET'S PLAY!"

"KEFKA!" Terra roared.

* * *

Next Chapter:

_Scattered and struggling for survival, Micaiah's army finds itself at the brink of annihilation when the Queen finds herself fighting a powerful, but unwilling Earth mage._

_The two commanders charge at each other with their full might, one out of duty while the other out of passion._

_The jester's jack in a box pops out. Will even the sword bathed in flames be enough for what beast was within?_

_Finally, a mysterious knight, seemingly impervious to defeat joins the fray who is he?_

Next time: Assault on Nevassa! Part Two: The King's Roar

"_Kefka... I'll make this quick... unlike what you did to my father!"_

_"Is he... impervious to damage?"_

_"Roland, give me strenght!"_

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Okay, okay, this didn't have much of the actual "assault", but I had to build a bit of backstory for Lyn and the Durandal. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and, as always, feel free to review, asking question or giving opinions, whatever you feel like it.

* * *

AND to make this feel more "Fire Emblemish", here's what they would look like ingame, at least the people that appeared so far in the main plot. Don't take it too seriously though, it's just a way to follow it better. Third tier is the norm unless stated otherwise. Also, why does Wyvern Master Evolve to Wyvern Lord? Well, DRAGON Lord is already reserved, sorry. For what? I don't know... *Whistles*

**Ike**

Vanguard, Level 20

**Elincia**

Queen, Level 19

**Lyn**

Blade Lord, Level 20

**Terra**

Magitek Elite (2nd tier), Level 20. Human form only.

**Soren**

Wind Archsage, Level 17

**Ranulf**

Cat, Level 34

**Shinon**

Marksman, Level 18

**Boyd**

Reaver, Level 14

**Oscar**

Silver Knight, Level 12

**Rolf**

Sniper(2nd tier), Level 20

**Titania**

Gold Knight, Level 17

**Mia**

Trueblade, Level 16

**Stefan**

Trueblade, Level 20

**Gatrie**

Marshall, Level 15

**Mist**

Valkyrie, Level 13

**Rhys**

Saint, Level 9

**Sanaki**

Empress, Level 11

**Marcia**

Seraph Knight, Level 7

**Tanith**

Seraph Knight, Level 9

**Sigrun**

Seraph Knight, Level 14

**Geoffrey**

Silver Knight, Level 15

**Lucia**

Trueblade, Level 6

**Renning**

Gold Knight, Level 13

**Bastian**

Wind Archsage, Level 11

**Volke**

Assassin, Level 20

**Tibarn**

Hawk King, Level 40

**Caineghis**

Fomer Lion King, now Royal Lion, Level 38

**Skrimir**

Lion King, Level 35

**Nailah**

Wolf Queen, Level 36

**Naesala**

Raven King, Level 33

**Kurthnaga**

King of Dragons, Level 29

**Nasir**

White Dragon, Level 37

**Ena**

Pink Dragon, Level 25

**Gareth**

Red Dragon, Level 34

**Micaiah**

Shaman, Level 20

**Sothe**

Whisper, Level 17

**Edward**

Trueblade, Level 12

**Leonardo**

Marksman, Level 1

**Zihark**

Trueblade, Level 1

**Nolan**

Reaver, Level 1

**Aran**

Sentinel, Level 3

**Laura**

Saint, Level 1

**Jill**

Wyvern Lord, level 1

**Haar**

Wyvern Lord, Level 20

**Fiona**

Silver Knight, Level 1

**Tauroneo**

Marshal, Level 1

**Ilyana**

Thunder Archsage, Level 1

**Pelleas**

Dark Archsage, Level 1

**Shin**

Mystic Knight (2nd tier), Level 18

**Celes**

Rune Knight (2nd tier), Level 16

Those three brats? We'll have to wait to know.

**Eliwood**

Former Level 20 Knight Lord, now unknown.

**Marcus**

Paladin(2nd tier), Level 19

**Mark**

Strategist (2nd tier), Level 20

**Ramza**

Holy Knight, level 7

**Oliver**

Saint, level 10

**Rydia**

Mist Summoner, level 16

**Edge**

Ninja Prince, level 20

**Sephiran**

Chancelor, level 20

**Renault**

Bishop? Level unknown


	7. The King's Roar

******Author's note:**This took a loooong time. I'm sorry for that. That and I'm sorry preemptively at Cloud fans. Anyway, there are two characters here that you'll probably be A) Confused at seeing, B) Jaw-dropped or C) Both. That said, see you at the end.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter Seven**

******Assault on Nevassa! Part Two: The King's Roar**

* * *

"Now, just capture the girl. Nothing dirty behind this, you just go and knock the silver-haired one out." The black haired woman in tribal gown told the brown haired beauty. Said woman had her hair tied down with a pink ribbon and wore a floral white and blue dress. She held her staff on one hand and touched her chest with her free hand. She didn't want to follow orders. She had to.

"Understood…" She finally agreed, nodding weakly and watching over the flaring streets.

"Atta girl! I'll get that pesky rogue outta ya way, don't you worry!" The wild one added, jumping right off the building, directly onto the passing Sothe.

"Sothe! Watch out!" Micaiah shouted as soon as her eyes wandered to the sky.

"What the…"

* * *

"Thank you Sylph." Rydia thanked the group of fairies surrounding her as they slowly laid her on the ground with their wind magic.

"Don't worry Rydia, just don't push yourself too hard… please? Dying isn't the only way." The frankness of the esper surprised Rydia. Taking her eyes away from the flying being's glare, Rydia nodded.

"I'll try." She lied. As long as Kefka paid, the rest was secondary.

* * *

After roaring her nemesis' name, Terra ignored all of the soldiers around her and barreled towards Kefka. One or two nameless soldiers tried to stop her, getting thrown away like ragdolls. They were lucky Terra was still mildly in control, else the same would've happen, with the added "no head" factor.

"Oopsy daisy!" Kefka joked, dodging Terra's horizontal sweep by landing on top of the Alondite. "You're gonna have try harder than that kitty!" He mocked, dancing on it.

"I'm going to make you pay Kefka!" Terra swung the sword upwards as hard as her arms would let her, catapulting the clown upwards. Said clown even gasped when he realized he was going in the direction of a black sphere in the sky. "Darkness of Gravity! FALL!" The sphere did just that, dragging Kefka with it, crashing with a resounding backlash on the ground.

"That's a start! HAHAHAHAHA!" As if he had never been hit, Kefka was there, laughing eerily even though his laid down position.

"Kefka... I'll make this quick... unlike what you did to my father!" Terra roared, grabbing the Alondite with both hands, swinging it downwards to launch its characteristic energy ray.

"Oh… but quick is no fun! No fun at all!" Kefka exclaimed, dodging the blow and dancing around the tempest of blows that came after. "It seems as if you've been living in a cave for the last five years!" He mocked, angering the young even more, more so when he vanished. She soon felt a presence behind her and turned, Kefka grabbing her chin while whispering: "Men like it when women do it slowly…" That innuendo cost him quite a bit as Terra grabbed his face right then and there, roaring:

"MAGIC!" As she casted Firaga, the ensuing blast filling the already putrid air with even more stench of putrid flesh as Kefka was blasted away.

"Sir Ke-"The soldier thought twice before taking action. Still, someone didn't. Blocking her way was the pupil of one of the only people she was able to trust ever since she was forced onto the empire.

"Terra, you've made your point, if you come back now maybe they'll think twice before they…" The spiky blonde tried to reason, but this wasn't the time for it, it was way past that.

"Cloud… out of my way. I will only say this once, for the respect I HAD of you." Ike was beginning to recognize that tone, it was turning more animalistic with every passing second. This wasn't good. It was was as expected, but still, not good.

"I won't move Terra. I can't move!" He exclaimed, reaching out for his gigantic claymore, whipping said claymore out and pointing it at Terra in an act of defiance. He soon had to rethink his actions though, as he was quickly forced to jump away form an equally massive broadsword.

"Terra, focus on him!" Ike told her, shooting an energy ray from the Ragnell to keep get Cloud as far away as possible from the fight. "I'll handle that guy!"

"Sir Ike!" Elincia cried, kicking her Pegasus to soar.

"Elincia, you have to check for wounded, I'm sorry, but as far as we know you're the only competent healer here." Ike told the enamored queen, backflipping out of the Buster Sword's range. He then sent out an energy wave from his sword, surprising Cloud with his ability, taking the opportunity to strike. Cloud flinched when the Ragnell made contact with his armored gauntlet, which he had to use to avoid being bisected seeing as the Buster Sword was not in position for another guard. "Elincia, go, please!" He noticed Elincia's reluctance, so he had to take action. This proved to be the last push she needed. Taking the reins, she resigned herself to do what was best for everyone and changed the direction of her Pegasus.

"Be safe until I return…" She said in resignation.

"Great, another load on my shoulders…" Ike replied a faint smile tainting his expression for just a second before said expression turned stone-cold when he faced Cloud. "Cloud, right? Prepare yourself!" Catchphrases…

"Hum… that girl isn't too shabby, don't you think?" Edge mused, watching over Elincia's departure.

"Go, if you help me it'll be suspicious." Celes replied, massaging her wrists to improve circulation.

"What about you?" Edge questioned before leaving.

"That woman isn't going to take them all by herself." She replied, pointing out that Lyn was single handedly dancing through the reinforcements in a beautiful but deadly display of steel and blood, the Durandal cutting through the flames and assimilating them, burning in a beautiful flametongue.

"Alright then!" Edge shot her smile, vanishing into thin air. Celes nodded and rushed to help Lyn, however…Edge landed on a building bellow where Elincia was soaring. He wasn't smiling anymore. "Sorry Icy… but you forgot…" He pulled out only one of his katanas, taking a deep breath as he did. "I'm not on your side." He looked at Elincia as a lion examined his prey. "Pity, she's really hot."

* * *

"Haar?" Elincia had just sighted from the corner of her eye black wings, black wyverns were extremely rare, or at least, THAT tonality. Sure enough, when she took a better look, she saw how a wyvern lord gave it's all, spinning his axe in the midst of ten sword users and even some mages, using thunder no less. Considering how fragile wyverns were to magic, let alone THUNDER magic and how axes lost to swords… it was almost a miracle he managed. At first she asked herself why didn't he just fly away, but then she noticed what his wyvern was covering. The barely moving bodies of Jill and Fiona. "Don't worry Haar! Help is near!" She shouted, kicking Gwydion to his aid. She lowered her body as her Pegasus closed his wings, dive-bombing at the most important target, the mages. Wyverns can take a lot of physical punishment, so the sword users would be secondary.

"Enemy si-"She hated doing it.

"All forc-"The feeling was horrible.

"She's too fa-"The way she, like the Reaper, ended lives.

"What's hap-"The sword user never got his question answered, his head was split open by a tomahawk.

"Look, just because you have swords doesn't mean you can walk around like I'm a pushover…" Haar told them, not surprisingly seemingly stricken by unbearable sleep.

The rest of the squad couldn't do anything, confused and distraught, they ran about like headless chickens, soon really becoming headless. Elincia then landed near the fallen women and, with a nod to Haar, she started healing them. Haar standing on guard. However… how could he track what was to come? In the shadows, a person whose whole life was dedicated to mastery of the swift, silent killing lurked. Even in the midst of the flame there was darkness. It suited the act he was about to commit just fine.

"Little emerald… I'm sorry." These very words would weigh heavily on him. Edge jumped from his hiding, like an eagle ready to strike at its prey. However, midair, even undetected by human senses, Schwarz, Haar's wyvern, roared. This caused Haar to look around, but his lack of one eye foiled his search, at least in time. Elincia had a strange feeling and, in response to it, looked up. It was all too equal. Edge remembered just when was the last time he had seen such a woman, emerald in hair, watching the skies in terror. He had been the cause of it… was it ten years ago? Hard to tell… still, for one moment, his mind pulled a trick on him. "Rydia…?" He questioned for a second, his blow being delayed by just a tenth of it, still grasping Elincia's hair. The woman had barely backed away in time, tripping herself in the process. Edge cursed himself for letting her notice him, but he wouldn't stop there. No, he jumped again, this time, pinning her to the ground with his katana held high. Yet, he couldn't do it. She looked so… scared. He didn't know it wasn't for herself, but for how the army would take her death. "Damnit Edge… get a grip!" He exclaimed, gripping the blade tighter. "Sorry, but I HAVE TO DO THIS!" He screamed, his blade beginning to make its way to Elincia's jugular artery.

"You… changed." A full stop. Not a scratch was left on Elincia. "Last time, when they weren't watching, you did what you could. Now? Who's watching?" Edge, like he had just heard a ghost, slow lift his head and turned it, what he saw caused his weapon to fall right next to Elincia, who confusedly watched the newcomer. "You're just. Like. Them."

"R-Rydia?" He fumbled, slowly getting on his feet, his legs were shaking, his steps clumsy. He neared the woman who had just made her way onto the scene, but, just as he reached out to her, she coldly slapped him away.

"That was for my mother." Her tone as cold as ice, she walked around him and went to check on the others. Edge just stood there. Cringing his teeth, his hands crushing themselves… tears fell down his face into his scarf. In an action he would come to doubt as right, he shouted:

"FOUR WINDS! TO ME!" Immediately, four ninjas appeared around him. Haar prepared his axe, but Rydia gestured him to lay it down. She was... curious. Or hopeful, hard to tell. "Eblan…" He took one look at Rydia, her expression unreadable.

(Cue "With us!")

"Eblan's siding with the rebels!" Shock covered the expressions of the ninjas. One a haggard man, one a small child, one an elder and one a woman.

"Master Edge, you cannot be serious!" The elder exclaimed.

"It's all because of that wench, isn't it?" The woman foolishly commentated, jealousy being clearly visible on her. Even being a ninja, she couldn't react to the lightning fast hand of her master.

"Don't you dare address her like that. Eblan owes her a debt I'm not certain it may be paid. Now, as commander of this operation and Prince, what I say is law until disproved by my father. Zangetsu, Izayoi, Tsukinowa, Gekkou… are you to stand against me?" Edge NEVER used his nobility as a way to throw his orders around, he preferred to earn the right, but he was just that desperate right now.

"No… young Prince." It was no surprise that they did not fully agree, but they did just as he said, vanishing into the shadows.

"There, I just destroyed the image I tried to spread ever since I was a toddler, can I at least help you now?" Edge asked, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Edge… maybe, just maybe, I judged you prematurely, but after Mist… I don't think I can forgive you." She replied in a much less angry tone, this one was just sad, leaving Elincia to wonder just what had happened between the two. "I can give you a chance… for old time's sake."

One cannot describe how fast Edge's face lit up when he heard that. Old Edge was back.

"I won't disappoint you! Now, information is what ninjas are all about, any questions?" He asked, seemingly renewed. Rydia… sighed, like she expected this reaction.

"Hum… could you tell us where the main battle is being held? I doubt the armies have been so diluted in so little time." Elincia asked, to which Edge replied immediately.

"Shin should be leading the rebels against the castle gates, most of the army is inside the castle, using catapults to haunt the citizens, I do think some of the army is helping evacuation though… I don't know about the queen, we'd better find her to boost morale." Edge suggested.

"Sounds good. I hope you aren't…" Rydia was suddenly interrupted by one of the few serious glares Edge had ever graced upon the eyes of anyone.

"Rydia, I'm going to earn your trust. Please, let me do so. I don't ask you to forgive me, I can't either…" This was enough to end any doubts. When Jill and Fiona were back on their mounts, the group departed in search of Micaiah.

* * *

At the Castle Gates:

"Mages! Catapults, ignore all else! Burn them down!" Shin insisted, commanding the army as his own. The desperation on the men's part made it possible for him to assume command without any objection. He knew this fight was hopeless as it stood now, but considering how the city was overrun, they didn't stand much choice, taking the castle would stop the enemies from having high ground, and if he learned anything with Star Wars, is that if someone has the high ground, you can be the "chosen one"… you'll still lose.

"Shin!" Edward called, landing right next to the Mystic Knight. "The gates, they are opening! They'll barricade inside." He seem pretty desperate, Shin just smiled.

"I don't know what they are thinking, but if they barricade inside… we can just use the castle to our advantage, last case scenario, we burn it down." The sneer of Edward's face was understandable, but Shin couldn't do much about it. "Look, Eddie, it's either the castle or the people." The tone he said it, coupled with the how true those words rang in Edward's head stopped any response. However, they heard a wooden sound clank. Like… "The gates closed? Why did they op- Who's that?" From the gates, a single person had emerged. A person ridding a white horse, yes, a horse, that was NOT normal in the Empire, where horses didn't exist, chocobos did.

"Stand down, none of your bloodlines can match mine." He announced, stopping in the middle of the battlefield, his very presence ending the skirmishes, with one swing he cleaved five of the brave generals that charged at him.

"What the… mages, new plan! Blast him!" Shin didn't know the man, even though he had been in the army for so long. Who was this monster? His legs were trembling.

"Magic… useless." He said without a hint of doubt, getting caught in the blast.

* * *

Sothe barely dodged the spear from above, landing sideways on a nearby building, reaching for the Peshkatz, spinning it in midair and grabbing it in the reverse grip knives were grabbed.

"Oh, I'll admit boy, you have a mighty quick reflex." The black haired woman with a very heavy accent mocked, spinning his spear into her battle position. "But y'all already lost, so why don't ya just lay down that knife and…" The Peshkatz washed right next to her ear, magically returning to the Whisper's hand. "I'll take that as a no…" She smiled. "Y'all such dags."

"What? Micaiah!" Sothe called, backflipping just in time to dodge the spear.

"Don't think so ankle biter." The woman taunted, blocking Sothe's path towards the fight that was unraveling in the distance.

Light spears and spheres were being thrown like they were twigs found on the ground as the two women danced in what could be an entrancing dance.

"Thani!" Micaiah chanted. She was saving her most powerful tome since… well, there couldn't be anyone nearby for her to use a spell like that. Still, the brown haired woman dodged easily. But there was something Micaiah noticed with these back and forward exchanges. Right after she regained control of her body, the woman fired a green spear of lightning. She dodged. Again. Micaiah wasn't the fastest person to use magic, she knew that she took too long to recover after casting a spell. You know, THRITY FIVE PERCENT speed growth does that to you. But what she noticed really was, no matter how many strategies she could come up with, even changing spells, shooting towards the place where the woman should go, ANYTHING really. Thing was, the girl always dodged it, like she was playing with her. She also never changed strategy, which made Micaiah believe she was…

"So… you figured it out." The girl replied, only having seen how Micaiah's eyes widened in realization. "Do you trust your husband?" She asked, Micaiah just nodded. "Then… dance."

"Sothe… be quick…" She muttered, continuing the would-be fatal dance with the woman.

* * *

Cloud crashed into a building, shattering the weakened wall along with the burning furniture, soon being covered by debris.

"Why…" He asked himself, kicking the debris away. "Why can't I keep up?" He sat up to see Ike slowly making his way to him, sword heaven over his shoulder. _"Who am I kidding… it's obvious…" _Cloud rushed at the blue haired hero with a swing of his blade, promptly missing and getting his neck clobbered by the handle of the Ragnell. _"That sword. He swings it like a one-hander. They praise me for using my sword with one hand, but it's still a two-hander style, __not him…"_ Cloud stopped abruptly, unleashing a spinning strike that was meant for Ike's neck, but instead found him arm-guard. To be fair, Ike did flinch at the force behind it, but he still brought down his blade, slicing Cloud's arm fairly heavily. Now he couldn't use both hands even if he wanted to. _"That's right… this guy beat Sephiroth… I never landed a blow on him."_ Cloud realized as he fell. "ALL THE MORE REASON TO BEA-" As much as Cloud tried to recover by strengthening his legs before he fell, Ike knocked the air out of him with a simple jab to the lungs, that, coupled with the excruciating pain of his wound fell him. His body lying on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Now, I think Lyn and Celes have been alone long enough." Ike cracked his neck, looking back on Cloud before rushing. "I feel like Zelgius…" He couldn't help but feel like stomping on the man's intentions so heavily would cause unavoidable consequences, but he decided to go with the flow, that being wiping out reinforcements. Considering how Kefka and Terra were flying and teleporting everywhere, chasing the clown would be counter-productive. He ran up to the soldiers that just kept pouring from the only three entrances to the plaza not blocked by debris. Lyn and Celes were doing a good job plugging two, but they were being overrun by the rear. Good thing Ike's entrances are first class. Running up to one the houses, he jumped, kicking the wall to gain even more altitude. As he flew, upwards of ten meters in the air, he locked onto a nearby fragile looking house, its structure already damaged by the fire. With a smile, he grabbed the holy sword with both hands and began to spin.

Lyn flowed in-between the slices, stabs and jabs from martial artist, her blade cleaving the air and everything that came after it. She wasn't used to using such a heavy blade, but she figured out she could hit the floor with it and use the recoil to avoid straining herself getting it back up. That and she used it once by stabbing it on the ground vertically, positioning herself head down on top of it, arms stopping the head from hitting the hilt and then spinning her legs in a circle, a move that earned her enough space to go on the offensive again. This sword made her feel stronger, as in she felt like she could lift a building while she held it, she had forgotten it after all this time. She had just cut through a couple of mages with a rising sweep when she noticed something. Something like a spinning ball of gold, blue and red. Crashing into a house. "And I thought Hector was crazy…"

The house, as Ike predicted, didn't hold and crashed, the debris scattering everywhere, crushing unlucky soldiers nearby and making the third entrance that much harder to get through. "Time for a taste of your own medicine!" He boomed, the soldiers thinking twice before taking another step.

"Blunt… but quite effective." Celes murmured. She had to admit, she felt… useless compared to Lyn and Ike. Ike easily fought at a God General's level. Lyn… maybe. Not quite there yet. Then… there was Terra.

"You're better than I thought kitty cat, but really, you have no experience in actually fighting, do ya? Your body may have, but your mind?" Kefka may have been full of bruises and cuts, but none of them were serious and every time he taunted Terra, she got closer to her breaking point.

"Shut up!" Terra growled, the silver blade erupting in flames, only grasping the jester's leg as it demolished a nearby house. "I'll… make you pay!" She shot a shockwave from the Alondite, again, only narrowly hitting Kefka. The way he pranced around her made her boil. Terra was a calm person, a peace-loving one, but this man? This man had to burn in hell!

"Look girlie, I only want to use you until we get this war over with, is that so wrong? It's not you're not an abomination of nature, I'm giving a purpose in life! You should be THANKING ME! I even let you have some days out every month or so." He knew what buttons to press. On that precise moment, Terra vanished, her aura glowing red as she appeared bellow Kefka, severing his right arm.

"You are the abomination here! What my parents proved was…" She was interrupted by a… laugh.

"You. You're so funny!" He laughed and laughed, ignoring how Terra had just grabbed his throat. He still managed to spit with his foul tongue: "You're always telling everyone how your father and mother represented how two races could live together and love each other. But if you really think about what went on for you to be born… it's pretty sick!" He stuck his tongue out a liked her hand. "You know, half-dear on girl action!"

She broke.

"What the…" Ike gasped when he felt the explosion behind him. Kefka's head rolled to his side, still laughing. He looked up and Terra had transformed, the Alondite falling to the ground as the esper had used her claw to decapitate the clown. Without any warning, Terra created a shockwave with her hand, turning what was behind Ike in sea of blood. Enemy blood, but it was still disturbing. And it got worse. That laughter… there was only one like it.

"FANTASTIC! BEAUTIFUL! I CAN SEE THE HEADS ROLL!" How could he be… Ike turned, just as Terra did, and there he was, flaying his legs as he laughed like a madman.

"I'll… kill you…" Terra muttered. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Girlie, you aren't fighting me! You're fighting him!" A giant glyph appeared right beneath the clown as he said. "Hail to the king baby!"

* * *

The knight erupted from the magical bombing like he would from a swarm of flies, landing where the archers had been positioned.

"No you don't!" Edward exclaimed, jumping him with sword in hand. The man blocked it easily, it was then that he and Shin both got a good look at his sword. It shone in a faint golden light, its simple silver edge with a black center denting the Trueblade's Caladbolg like it was nothing. It's hilt, golden and adorned by a ruby where the blade began and an emerald at the back and center of the hilt gave it a sense of royalty and also ferocity as the wings of the hilt resembled a dragon's claw.

"You'd do well to stop resisting!" He pushed Edward back easily. Edward, arguably the best soldier he had right now.

"Like hell we will!" Leonard shouted as he threw an arrow spinning into the air, jumping to grab it and firing it, the Marksman's Deadeye. The arrow flew with seemingly unmatched speed and precision towards the man's eye. Until moved his head on the last second. "H-he dodged a…"

"HE DODGED A MASTERY SKILL!" Edward exploded, taken aback by how something not one person ever dodged was so ineffective.

"I told you, resistance is futile! Even from you!" He kicked the horse to turn, blocking Shin's Lightbringer at the last second. "What?" He gasped at the power behind it, only then realizing how the weapon was a legend.

"Not so tough now that your sword isn't doing everything for you, are ya?" Shin thought to have him completely figured out, it was obvious the sword he was wielding, whatever it was, was granting him his overwhelming speed. He even foolishly thought that matching his sword would be the same as matching him.

"Interesting, but a sword doesn't make the wielder! ROAR! TYRFING!" The trueness of that statement would soon be shown as the man pressed Shin's blade, sending him skywards and vanished from sight, even his horse following. Before anyone could start looking for him though, Shin felt his body pierced. Above him were the horse and the knight, plummeting the five meters they had sent him up and into the ground. It took everything he had to keep himself conscious through that and even then, all he saw was red as they crashed. "You are not even on the same level as I. Rest here traitor!" He prepared himself for the finishing blow but a bright flash of light followed by a bellowing roar coming from the plaza stopped him as everyone turned their attention it.

* * *

"That roar… no, it can't be!" Rydia gasped as she rode with Elincia in search of Micaiah looking to her right as her instinct told her to. As the rest of the group did the same they saw it. Between the flare of the burning city, two silver wings extended, covering the moon. A creature so majestic you felt unworthy of laying your eyes on it. A dragon to end all dragons, one that made Dheguinsea a mouse in comparison. "The Hallowed Father to all Espers… Dragon King Bahamut…"

And the King roared.

* * *

So close they were that it almost seemed like their eardrums would burst into blood and gore. So close they were that kneeling seemed an option. So close she was that the Durandal pulsed in thirst for dragon blood. Lyn could barely find herself in the maelstrom of emotions that filled her simultaneously, but she knew that they weren't in the best of positions. She looked up, not running away as the entirety of the enemy army did. Kefka still laughed.

"So now, kitty. I heard you Espers picked your king through… strength right? Well, here he is! Now, will you become dragon chow or will you come home quietly? I warn you though, no treats for a week!" The clown's eyes were joyful, Terra contrasted them with burning hatred but the dragons were… empty. Like it had no soul.

"It will be slow… your death…" Terra, or whatever was there murmured back threateningly.

"Well, you asked for it! Bahamut, take it away!"

* * *

"Is that… Bahamut…?" Shin asked in-between blood coughs. The knight didn't seem impressed at the sight whatsoever for his misfortune.

"Be what may, it has no weight on my task. Now, will you surrender your blade and come quietly?" Tyrfing rested on his neck, blood from his left lung still sliding by its pristine edge.

"Edward… if you meet Vaan… tell him to say sorry to her for me." Letting the blade cut through the side of his neck, he turned around and swung the golden blade at the man's neck, but once again his inhuman speed saved him, blocking it just at the right time.

"Commendable. But this is where it ends." The man seemed truly impressed, but no sign of pity loomed in his mind.

"Sacred powers…"

With one swipe, he disarmed Shin, not noticing how he was being observed.

"Cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls!"

Before he could deliver the finishing blow, both him and both armies watched as the sky opened. He looked up and saw it, an azure haired Saint.

"Rest in peace sinners! AUREOLA!"

Annihilation. The soldiers that were protecting the gates all screamed in pain as their very existence was deleted, the abolishing light taking them all to the afterlife. The earth trembled at its might, The Heavenly Light, Aureola. The guilty would be purged.

* * *

"We should be there in a couple of hours." Soren told Mist just as she approached. He could see how worried she was. Understandable, he was worried too.

"I know Ike'll make it out alright… I just want to help the innocent." The Valkyrie told him, lying to herself. Still, that was the last of Soren's worries. Being at the forefront of the army, he heard something. He wasn't sure what, but he made a full stop.

"Did you hear that?" He questioned, Mist's look replied by itself. He didn't expect her to, he always had better hearing. He knew he was branded, even if he was unaware he was Black Dragon branded. So, instead of dallying more of te question, he analyzed the sound a knew it was coming from the east, right where they were headed… "It cannot be… RHYS!" He called, the Saint that just so happened to be nearby answering. "Shine your light to the east, I hope I'm wrong with this." With a nod, the Saint did, what Soren saw was… horrible. Thousdands of shadows. Organized, human shadows. How could he not have predicted it. "SANAKI, GEOFFREY, TIBARN! ORDER EVERYONE TO BATTLE STATION!" He roared, catching the young empress, the Hawk King and the blue haired Silver Knight by surprise. "IT'S AN AMBUSH!" A loud collective roar signaled the charge of the other army, our heroes army in complete disarray.

It would get worse.

* * *

Edward rubbed his eyes to shake off the dust, not wasting time in taking a good look around himself.

"Whoa…" They had all been engulfed into a crater during the explosion but, thankfully, everyone on his army seemed to be alright. "YES!" He cheered, Renault appearing right next to him with an apprehensive expression.

"You have not yet won. The castle must be taken." He informed, beginning to walk towards the last cloud of dust. "Let us take your tactician and be of." He managed to hide it from Edward, but his body was flaring in pain _"So… I am not Aureola's chosen wielder anymore…"_ He concluded, watching the book. _"Pity… she isn't here."_ He then entered the cloud, looking for Shin. He found a shadow and approached it, his mind still filled with thoughts of the tome. Too late. Too late did he realize how the shadow was too tall to be Shin.

"A truly impressive spell, however, as I said, magic is useless!" Renault felt his flesh being thorn from the shoulder to the hip, he fell watching the blue-haired knight tower over him, barely harmed.

"Is… is he impervious to damage?" Pelleas spouted, fear beginning to take over the former king's body.

"Just… who are you?" Renault asked, to which the knight complied.

"I am Sigrud! Descendant of the Divine Crusader Baldo! BY TYRFING BE SMITED!" He rose his blade skyward, preparing for the finishing blow on Renault, that until in desperation, a nearby Thunder Archsage reached for the tome she never got use.

"King of the heavens! Smite the unjust with your lighting! Rexbolt!" Ilyana chanted, the skies now darkening as three enormous lightning bolts raged from it, combining into a monstrous one that headed directly for Sigrud.

"How many times must I say it?" The spell crashed into the Tyrfing, doing everything but damage it, it charged it with lighting. "Magic is…. Useless!" With that, Sigrud redirected the energy of the spell right back at the Archsage, who only watched in horror.

"Ilyana, get out of the way!" Zihark shouted, blocking the lightning with his body. It didn't work as he hoped as both him and the violet haired mage were caught in the blast, leaving nothing more than a cloud of smoke.

"ZIHARK! ILYANA!" Edward called, getting no response from the duo. Obviously the entire army was shaken by it but… Edward looked to see Sigrud's solemn expression as he gave a bow in the two's direction.

"As much as it pains me to finish such honorable opponents, this is war, mercy is a luxury I cannot afford to take, not now…" He raised his sword once again, now ready to strike down Renault, who had no energy left for another Aureola.

"Not so fast!" Sigrud felt his head snap to the front before seeing a blue blur spinning in midair and landing in a very unrefined way in front of him. "Roy was right! You're tough, I'll have to watch my step with you!" A boy in his late teens energetically said, spinning his Brave Sword excitedly.

"Another? Wait… Tyrfing is reacting? Are you… no…" Never had the sword reacted before, but now it shone in a weak pulse of energy, almost a familiar one.

"Yeah, I can feel it too, it's kinda familiar feeling, that sword has the power of a dragon, doesn't it?" The teen asked, taking Sigrud aback.

"Are you alright?" A girl in her late teens asked Renault, keeling besides the now kneeling man with a very peculiar staff, healing him almost instantly.

"Now I am… you are her owner, are you not?" Renault had seen how the book had reacted as the girl arrived by his side.

"Once was… weren't you?" The girl replied. Renault just chuckled, grabbed the book and gave it to her.

"Tiena of Tania, it's yours, Aureola doesn't belong with someone as corrupt as me." With that, the Saint got up and threw off his robes, revealing an armor set fit for a Hero. "I understand now!" He pulled out a sword for the first time in thirty years. "I won't seek redemption in the light, I'll find my own path towards it! Me, Renault, the Demon Fighter!" His centenary body flared up for the first time in years, the moment of clarity giving him a new purpose.

"Okay, we need to split forces, one for that man and another one for the castle." Shin said, his wounds previously healed by the newcomer.

"Al can take him." Tiena replied with a confident smile.

"If you say so miss… Alright, let's regroup! Tend to the wounded, we're going in!"

"How would you know?" Sigrud asked, taking a better look at the teen. He wore light-blue regal armor with a matching gold edged cape. His hair was messy but short, a single small spike spiking out from the front. A belt of different shades of blue spread diagonally on his chest. The man laughed and took out a small stone. Said stone exploded in flames that engulfed the young man. When the flames died out, the teen which they had consumed was now a young man, his expression matured and his hair now fell from both his shoulders, the largest strand on his back even reaching his waist.

"Because I'm the son of one."

* * *

"Bahamut… do you think I… CARE?" Terra roared in a distorted voice, vanishing from sight. "Kefka! I'll kill you!" She shouted, appearing right above the jest and with one swipe from her claw managing to scar his face. For the first time, Kefka, seemed really serious.

"You… hurt me. Okay, no more mister nice guy! Papa is going to give you a spanking! You, lizard, get rid of the small fry!" Kefka ordered, firing a storm of fireballs moving erratically on the girl.

"Well… any ideas?" Ike questioned the two women when the dragon turned to face them.

"We have to fight!" Celes exclaimed, even if she wasn't sure they could even scratch it. Lyn, however, was more than sure.

Lyn closed her eyes, letting the feelings her sword was trying to transmit become her own. "Roland, give me strength!" She roared, surprising her companions. With a powerful booming shout, she raised her massive claymore overhead and, somehow got the idea of slamming it against the ground. The forceful reaction of it caused her to gain impulse far above any jump anyone there could muster. Before she knew it, she was even above the Dragon's head, above the clouds even. Seeing the flames beneath them almost made them appear to be shinning... Bahamut just stood there, as if analyzing what she was going to do next. As if guided by the same instinct that made her do it, she hollered: "Durandal! Un'yō no Tachi! CHESTO!" The blade descended on Bahamut's snout and it was there if only for a moment, if you blinked you could only see Lyn landing on the floor on the opposite side of the creature, cherry blossom petals flying in the wind and the blue flames that usually restrained themselves to the blade leaving it and taking the form of a young man beside her.

"There is nothing…" The spirit that Lyn instantly recognized as Roland began, yet again, words appeared on her head. He was her guide.

"… We cannot cut!" Lyn finished. The King roared… in pain, his blood mixing with the cherry blossom petals that accompanied Lyn's slash.

* * *

_Tyrfing, a blade imbued with the gift of the dragons. Al, a boy with the blood of one of the mightiest dragons. Sigrud, the pinnacle of Knights. All of these forces together for one clash._

_As an ambush tries to send the army into turmoil, Rolf is faced with a decision he never knew to be so difficult._

_As a country deserts the Empire, only three words remain. Break the gates!_

_No mercy for the merciless, right? But doesn't that make you one of them… Terra?_

_Dragon King, bound by foul magic, will you return to your senses? And if you do… how will a King fair against a God?_

* * *

_Next time: Assault on Nevassa! Part Three: Thunder God_

"_Bahamut! This isn't you! Fight it!"_

_"You're just like me! Repeat after me! M-O-N-S-T-E-R!"_

_"Son of Gawain, lay down your sword."_

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Okay, we got SOME new people this chapter, and by god I bet none of you saw Al coming, heck, I'd even hazard to guess you never heard of him. Okay, history lesson kids. FE6 had a manga. The manga was awesome. The manga didn't focus on Roy that much. And here's where four, five characters that'll appear here come from. Why? Because 75% of 6's cast sucked, I might as well pick what I can to remedy it. And before you say "But Herald, the manga only showed the ending of FE6 with Zephiel, not the true one!" and to that I say, you can fit FE6's ending right after the end of the manga, they get all legendary weapons at the end anyway so… Dragons ahoy! That and, considering how Renault was a mercenary so long ago, let's go along with what FE2 said and make the 3rd tier Demon Fighters. Finally, Sigrud is OOC? Can be, but he has a reason, don't worry. "Herald, shouldn't he be dead?" Good question, shouldn't he? As always, tell me what you thought, opinions, suggestions anything. I'm open ears.

* * *

**Cloud**

SOLDIER, Level 4

**Aerith**

?

**Fang**

Dragoon, Level 14

**Sigrud**

Former Knight Lord. Now, unknown.

**Al**

Dragon Lord, level 15

**Tiena**

Duchess, level 12

**Renault**

Demon Fighter, level 20

* * *

Translation Corner (Lyn's basically a samurai, get used to it.):

Durandal Un'yō no Tachi!: Durandal, Blade of the Shining Cloud.

* * *

Shin: I'm more satisfied with my role. But are you really going to include everything you feel like including here?

Well, no, Al just is a perfect "key" for a nearby twist. He's half-dragon you see. Sound familiar?

Shin: Bastard…


	8. Thunder God

******Author's note:** I'm an awful person… yes I lost two weeks at the Olympic games, but still procrastinated. So, as an apology. This is not only HUGE, but EPIC. So get into it!

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter Eight**

******Assault on Nevassa! Finale: Thunder God**

* * *

Sothe dodged another one of the wild swings from the woman's spear. He wasn't used to spears being used like that. Most on-foot spear users were so refined that their moves had become predictable when combined with the fact they almost always used heavy armor. But this woman was wearing no protection, not to mention she was almost, if not as fast, as him. To make it worse, Micaiah seemed to be having trouble with the other woman. What could he do? He dodged yet another one of her thrusts. She used the spear more like a bladed staff, she also… had no shield.

"_That's it… Sentinels can use their shields to cover their gaps when they attack. She may be as fast as me, but her weapon is much less maneuverable!"_He jumped back and landed with a smirk.

"Oh? The boy got his spine back?" Sothe loved how cocky the woman had gotten. Yeah, he had been thrown around up until now, but that was because he had fallen into a soldier's most dangerous trap. Thinking only inside the box. He had to adapt and improvise, only then did he realize that. The woman lunged, Sothe waited. He waited for the woman to sign her own demise. To make it even more convincing, he let his arms fall in false resignation. "Guess I was wrong!"

"_Yeah… wrong in underestimating me!"_She thrust and Sothe reacted accordingly, moving the absolute minimum to dodge it, the blade of the spear even scratching his cheek as he threw his body forward. He never killed in one strike. Either it was to retrieve information or to give the opponent the last chance at redemption He was no Assassin, he was a Whisper, Bane was not meant to kill. So, like he always did, he aimed for the carotid artery on her neck. Without magic, one would die minutes after the cut, which would even make her a useful bargaining asset to get her companion off her wife. But enough thinking, before the woman managed to react to how fast his burst of speed was, his dagger shone with a violet light as he vanished. Before she knew it, her neck was bleeding profusely. Taken by the pain, she fell to her knees, trying to stop the blood flow with her hands. She may have tried to scream, but the pain stopped her from moving anything related to her neck. Sothe didn't take any time in capitalizing in the situation. "Hey you!" He called, getting the brown haired woman's attention. "If you don't want your comrade to die here, I suggest you surrender! Micaiah can heal her." The woman's response was… unexpected. Like she had always been able too, she snapped her fingers, causing a small crack to appear on the ground that Micaiah was unable to react to, sinking half of her body into it. She then pulled out three metal cylinders and joined them, extending the connections to form a staff which she placed on top of Micaiah's head.

"How about an exchange?" She suggested. Micaiah had been right all along. Begrudgingly, Sothe accepted, walking away from the bleeding woman as her companion did the same for Micaiah. By the time he arrived at Micaiah's side, taking her off the fissure he looked back to see both the women bickering.

"Aerith! What the hell! You could have beaten her so easily?!"The black-haired one shouted in her face, to which the unreadable expression of the brown haired one didn't change.

"Fang, I need the element of surprise, it's not my fault you couldn't even hold him until I managed to defeat her." Well, that must have stung. "We're leaving. I can't guarantee your protection anymore." Aerith told her, ignoring all of her protests as they were both engulfed in a pale green light, vanishing soon after.

"She didn't want this…" Micaiah told Sothe.

"I know, I could see it…" Sothe replied.

"There they are!" An unknown voice shouted, leading the duo to prepare for another battle. Thankfully though, they hardly needed it.

"It's only us. Stop being so jumpy." Haar said, both annoyed and sleepy.

"We need your help…" Elincia knew this wasn't a time for a happy reunion.

"Figured as much."

* * *

"Get back to your positions! Push them back!" Soren was yelling at the top of his lungs as the invaders were wreaking havoc on the army. Yes, Soren. He never was one to command the army, but he had to until someone more fitting arrived.

"Status." Tibarn asked as he tore through a couple of the assailants and reverted to human form.

"They clearly outnumber us AND they have the element of surprise. We do seem to be more skilled in the short time I evaluated this, but skill won't make up for both numbers and strategy. " Soren wasn't one to lay it down in an optimistic way, he was brutal.

"So, what do you suggest we do? Roll over and play dead and hope they buy it?" Tibarn, as much as he talked with the Branded, never got over his speech. It was the complete opposite of Ike's, how the hell were they friends?

"There's a fourth element we can use to our advantage." Soren pointed out, opening his Tornado tome to blow the attackers away. "Morale. Find their commander and kill him in front of the others." He said that in a tone that would make a normal person shiver. So cold for what he had just said. He then added: "I'll convince the Empress to add a fee for it." Tibarn didn't even try to look. Volke had already been there and vanished without him noticing, like always. "Also, Tibarn, I need you to pass word to the mages. Dress in white cloth and lay down, the snow will make them hard to pinpoint." He was right in that regard, the forked road was home to a forest and it was indeed snowing.

"I'll ask Janaff and Ulki to scout for their ringleader. As of now, I don't think you have to worry much about defending." Soren asked himself why Tibarn had said it, as from what he could see, they were trapped in the road, fending off the horde of attackers that were coming from the woods. A familiar roar cleared his mind. "They just need time to get warmed up." Ena, Nasir, Garret and Kurthnaga suddenly towered, one in each direction. That was enough to not only tip the scales if ever so little back into a more balanced position, but it also dealt a crushing blow to the enemy morale. Apparently, they had no idea they were fighting this kind of enemy.

"I admit, this is better than expected, but still, Tibarn, I need you to pick Ramza..."

* * *

"Rolf?! Rolf!" Teresa called, desperate.

"This isn't funny pipsqueak!" They were outside the formation, combing through enemy lines inside the forest, the lack of visibility in the woods managed to keep them hidden in plain sight until it was too late. "Damn, he just HAD to run away, didn't he?!"

"I'm sorry…" Teresa apologized, feeling guilty for his escape. When Rolf went to find his brothers to prepare, she saw her with them and freaked out, running away in disgust of his brothers. If only he knew that she was only asking where the mages were supposed to form…

"Don't apologize, for once, this isn't your fault." Shinon made it VERY clear that he MEANT that "for once" but still, Teresa appreciated it for all it was worth.

"Rolf doesn't get it! An archer can't fight alone without the Double Bow!" Mist, who had decided to tag along when they saw Rolf run was together with Shinon brutally massacring the enemies before they were even close. Floret was a magic weapon so no matter how much armor you were, if you weren't resistant to magic, bye bye.

"I think I see him!" Oscar, having the best vision in the whole group, well at least when he actually OPENED his eyes, had spotted Rolf on a tree, successfully shooting down any would-be assailants before they even got close. It seemed almost too easy. They pressed on even after the army had been alerted of their presence already, ready to close them off from all directions.

"What are you doing here?!" Rolf exclaimed, shooting an archer that was about to fire an arrow at Mist.

"Getting your sorry ass back to safety!" Mist roared in a way even the enemy soldiers were baffled.

"D-did Mist just say ASS?!" Boyd stuttered, taken aback by the rarity of the situation.

"Focus!" Shinon interrupted, returning the serious mood, as it should be. He ran up to a nearby three, effortlessly shooting the armored knights that rushed him without sparing even a look, his arrows found their necks anyway. With the grace of a feline, the Marksman hopped onto a branch by using the trunk as a foothold. He and Rolf were side by side, just on different trees. They took it upon themselves to shoot any mage they could see. They determined that the ones in blue robes and pointy hats were mages while the ones in white hooded robes were the priests. Boyd was NOT having a good time. Do remember what Ike said, spears were nigh unused, and axes were fairly uncommon. Result? A permanent disadvantage against melee fighters wasn't the best way to start. Well, to be fair that meant Oscar was at permanent advantage so it balanced out. Anyway, Oscar was the least frail of the four on the ground, so he did his best to keep most of the attention to himself while Mist and Teresa snipped the armored soldiers and Boyd took care of the martial artists and the men in musketeer hats. This seemed to work nicely as Boyd was able to easily cut down the men with no protective gear, but there was just so much a group of seven people could do. After a grueling ten minutes fighting, the enemies did something that was completely impossible to have them prepare against. A booming sound resounded through the forest and something had hit Oscar's right shoulder, incapacitating it. Oscar still held his Silver Lance with his other hand, but the damage was done, he wasn't as skilled with it and he had no idea what had just hit him. A circular hole was now stamped on his joint, one that had not only pierced his armor, but left something inside his couldn't see it, but from afar, a certain blonde stored his metal invention on his pocket and turned to the armored female on his side.

* * *

"There, I contributed to this battle. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go look for Ramza." He rambled. The blonde woman beside him, wearing a gold chestplate and shoulderguards for protection along with plated kneecaps, besides the platemail, she still wore hard leather boots and trousers, the lower end of the torso and her arms being the only part of her body not protected, as they were only covered by a blue vest that ended in a coattail.

"You'll be branded a…" She tried to reason.

"I'll be branded whatever Ramza is!" He shouted back, startling the woman. "To think… only now I realized… my brother was right all along."

"Mustadio… your brother left both you and your father." The woman replied, a more serious and nigh freezing tone returning to her voice.

"Oh Agrias. I don't expect you to understand, you haven't see what I've seen." He told her as he thought back to that one time he stumbled into his father's laboratory. "Madness, the very abyss of madness." He replied as he turned his back at her. This man was wearing unusual clothing for battle, even for his origins. Light blue jeans and a yellow leather shit combined with brown gloves and three pouches, one on his side, one on his waist and one tied to the lower end of his left leg. "Are you coming?" He asked her, almost showing no interest.

"Of course. I… cannot turn my eyes away any longer." She replied, marching to his side. "But let us go quick, we must not waste the illusion of us being battling you created." And with that, they continued their almost hopeless search on the battlefield.

* * *

Back with our favorite trio of brothers and company, Boyd was trying to block the incoming soldiers off his more fragile companions all by himself. This was surprisingly working rather nicely, using a tree to stop any attacks from the back as two archers and even Oscar's and Mist's horses protected the group. Shinon's aim stayed true in the middle of pure blackness, save for the fires on the horizon was beyond them. But as most situations that seem in-control end up being, this had to spiral downwards really quickly. Both Rolf and Shinon had turned their full attention to protecting the group while Mist tried to heal Oscar and as such, had lost their most of their field of vision. So focused were they on their task that they had forgotten the possibility of a ranged assault. In fact, partially due to her inexperience Teresa was just looking around, not knowing what to do when she spotted a mage preparing a spell, his yellow eyes fixated on her child as the fireball in its hand grew larger. She wanted to stop him, but he was too far away. And there were at least ten men between her and him. They weren't being swarmed by hundreds, but a good thirty men would make it suicide for a mage, especially one that had barely ANY battle experience such as her to try and stop him. But crying out to Shinon or Rolf wouldn't be enough, the channeling was almost completed.

"Maybe Rolf will forgive me if I do this…" She mumbled, sprinting forward before any of the crew could identify the reason of said mumbling. The enemy seemed as taken aback as our heroes, not moving an inch during the seconds she ran. "Worm!" She shouted as a black fog covered the mage. However, she didn't have time to aim it right and black magic has horrible accuracy and as such, she didn't manage to interrupt her target, only hitting his chest and not his arm. Still, the man cried :

"Fira!" as he shot a bolt of fire, but Teresa saw her effort somewhat rewarded as the bolt missed his target by a longshot due to her wounding the mage's leg, altering his position enough for him to hit the trunk of the tree and not Rolf. The tree however, was not able to take it and started falling down. "You wench!" The mage cried in frustration. She knew she was done for when the clank of two metal boots stopped right behind her. Still, she felt… satisfied. She was going to die, but before she did, she at least tried to redeem herself. Saving Rolf's life now would never compensate for the pain she had wrought out of pure selfishness, moreover when she thought that maybe, just maybe, she was doing all this so that she could feel good about herself.

"Why…" As this was occurring, still clinging to the same tree branch of the falling tree was Rolf. In his mind, he couldn't comprehend it. He had scorned her, he had tried to kill her, he did everything to make her life miserable, but still, after all of that, she was ready to give her life for a very slim chance of him surviving. But then, he remembered.

* * *

"Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong. Those who cannot forgive are the ones that keep our world stained with the blood of both innocents and guilty alike." It was after a grueling training session not long after Ike had left that Rolf had asked Shinon how he was able to let go of his hatred for the Laguz. That was his answer. It was so very un-Shinon-like that Rolf just stared at him wide eyed. Shinon chuckled and added: "Commander Greil once told me that. It's true though. It took me years to forgive Ike for taking over the company. Maybe I'm stronger now, who knows? How about you Rolf?" At the time he had no idea what that was about but this time…

* * *

"After what you've done to my arm… you will bur-"The mage was cut short mid-spell when an arrow was found planted right into the middle of his eyes. The knights looked back confused. No one could shoot someone at such precision in a forest, at night and at a considerable distance. Shinon could've, even if they didn't know about it, but he had been busy in the continued defense. He reckoned three lives were more important than one as he was the only one able to keep a cool head over all of this. Then, the tree where Rolf was in crashed. However, instead of seeing light from the flames on the trunk, they saw a golden light escaping its leaves. For the last time in their lives. Two arrows shot from the foliage and lodged themselves directly onto their necks, entering the narrow junctions of their chestplate to their helmets. Soon after Rolf walked out of the leaves, a bigger shoulder pad, a more detailed vest with coattails and an overall more mature expression being highlighted by the fire.

"Stay away from my mother."

* * *

"I still say this is going to kill the three of us." Vaan complained. The first thing they had done when all hell broke loose was rush to the castle and enter through a window. Now they were stuck on a castle oozing with enemy soldiers and absolutely no allies, as any possible guard or servant had either been expelled beforehand or were now sitting in the dungeons. Bartz had taken one corridor while they took another, leaving no explanation as to why.

"Hey, you got a better idea?!" Zidane blared back, only to cover his hands instantly. Sneaking around while shouting wasn't the brightest idea ever.

"Who goes there?!" A guard shouted from around the corner. Zidane and Vaan froze, but as the guard looked around the corner, something fell on top of him.

"Sleep." Bartz hushed as the man was forced into slumber.

"Okay then, where the heck were you?" Zidane grumbled, crossing his arms to make sure Bartz knew how bummed he was.

"Oh nothing, just released everyone in the dungeons, effectively giving us our very own squadron." There was sarcasm seeping through the words while a group of no more than twenty guards turned the corner.

"We are still extremely outnumbered." One nameless guard pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe we should wait until they arrive…" Bartz pondered.

"I might have a better idea."

* * *

"Whoa! You're a piece of work!" Al joked, landing on one hand before setting himself up straight with the impulse from it.

"Just… what in the name of Baldo are you?" Sigrud had been distressed at seeing how Al had changed by the usage of the stone, now however, he was even more when he fought him. The boy, or man as he looked now, just hit bounced off any walls in the vicinity like a pinball and used the strangest and less practical techniques in battle. But, for Sigrud who had been raised and fought in an all-military fashion, he knew of no way to counter the man's primate-like skills. No matter if he was faster than him, stronger than him and more skilled than him, fact was, Al knew how he was going to react and he didn't. What he couldn't see however, was how Al was getting tired very quickly.

"_Can't let him know…"_ Al told himself, shaking his head without dropping his grin. "The same as you are!"

"I doubt that…" Sigrud said gloomily, hiding away his secret. "But enough talk!" He kicked his horse and rushed at his opponent, trying to either trample him or cut him when he tried to dodge. Well, he unconsciously made the same error as he did during the entirety of the fight. He applied the same concepts of a normal fighter to all. Oh, Al did dodge like expected him to, but he didn't step to the side, no, he leaped to a nearby building's wall, kicked it to jump higher, making Sigrud's attack miss completely and also leaving him wide open for a counter attack. Without letting Sigrud digest the information Al descended on top of him with an overhead slash, one who Sigrud, his speed augmented by the Tyrfing, barely managed to block. Even though his body was starting to weigh heavily on his capability to move, Al didn't permit that to be an issue, pushing Sigrud's sword away and landing on his horse's head. "What in the name off…" Sigrud was completely flabbergasted. How could a person balance himself on top of a running horse was beyond him. Not only that, but he was exchanging fierce blows with him. As much as his horse tried to shake his head, it didn't do much. Al even went as far as to slam his sword on Sigrud's catapulting himself to the BACK of his horse, stabbing at him from behind. Sigrud dodged to the left, having his cape pierced, but this worked to the half-dragon's advantage, who kicked him off his horse as he saw his body moving to a less than favorable position. His body hit the ground hard, he hit his head on a rock and lost his senses for a moment. When he regained it, was only by instinct that he dodged Al falling on top of him, rolling to a safe position and standing up. Gasping for air. To his surprise though so was Al.

"_C'mon guys… I can't hold this guy here much longer…__"_ He pleaded mentally, grimacing when he understood that Sigrud had seen through his façade of not being tired.

* * *

"I'll admit, that was impressive." Ike told Lyn as they hid behind a house. "But can you do more of that stuff? I don't think it's all that hurt." He took a peak around the corner and gasped." RUN!" And they did, the three ran as fast as they could to avoid the massive fireball meant for them, one that annihilated the house. Lyn had been able to hurt Bahamut. But that's just it. She hurt him, nothing more. The dragon was still very much alive and every other attempt that Ike or the girls had on hurting Bahamut only resulted on him flying out of range.

"Blizzaga!" Celes chanted, firing a massive chunk of ice against the dragon. It didn't even phase, only using his wing to wave it off like nothing. "We can't rely on magic it seems..."

"Lyn… I need a favor." Ike asked, Lyn immediately nodding, curious what would Ike ask in such a situation. "Distract that guy. I'll be back with our only chance at winning this." And he sped off into the distance.

"Wait! You'll need me!" Celes knew what Ike was planning, and he sure as hell wouldn't be able to accomplish it without someone who knew how to deal with the situation.

* * *

"You're all talk, aren't you?!" Kefka mocked, jumping up and down to avoid the waves of holy orbs Terra threw at him. "Run run or you'll be well done!" He joked, sending three erratic fireballs into Terra. She clawed two of them away but one other hit her straight in the chest area, burning deep into it as she let go a primal cry.

"Pay… You'll… PAY!" She had long since let go of her sanity, mindlessly calling down thunder upon the jester, who just pranced around it. She flew in to claw at him, but he dodged by purposely letting his body fall to the ground, jumping up right after, his face getting so close to Terra's their noses were touching, her burning violet eyes clashing with his glimmering green ones.

"Look at you, you're just mindlessly destroying anything to get to your goal… I'm so proud of you…" He faked tears saying: "Having an actual goal is something you can improve on though…" Dodging Terra's swipe right after. "Now, now, let your papi talk!"

"You are NOT… my father!" She roared, throwing a massive chunk of ice against the clown, following with another just as it hit. The voice didn't stop.

"That hurts right here! Yes, I'm not your biological father, but I'm so much more! I taught you so much!" Once again, he dodged, this time the exploding water from bellow, the pressure of which would make a person's bones mush.

"Shut… up! You… are a MONSTER!" She erupted from the geysers she had called and grabbed a hold of the clown's neck, lifting him and choking him at the same time. Maybe she had grabbed him only since he let her, she had that feeling, but her instinct told her to MURDER him.

"Well, good point, I'll give you that." He laughed as he said it, coughing right after when Terra squeezed his neck like a lemon. "But... still. Look at you now! Look at what you did in the past! You're just like me! Repeat after me! M-O-N-S-T-E-R!"

"Y-you made me!" Her grip became looser.

"Yeah I did… but now it's engraved on you! You can't live without this! Why do you think you lose control?! You NEED to destroy! YOU ARE ME!" He screamed, something stirring on Terra's mind as she dropped Kefka.

"No… that's not true…" She began to back away from him.

"Don't be ashamed of what you are my dear. At least you have someone who can… understand you like I do!" Kefka was almost sounding… fatherly as he approached her.

"She's nothing like you!" Celes blared from afar, an icicle grazing Kefka's face.

"You just had to come and ruin everything, didn't you?!" Kefka roared, his voice blackening as the day became the night.

"C-Celes… CELES!" Confused and scared, even if she was still morphed, she ran up to her best friend.

"Don't you DA- ugh…" He felt something on his torso. Okay, maybe that was an understatement. There was a large silver sword protruding from it.

"I've got one more where that came from!" Ike warned, preparing the Ragnell for a final swing. No, he wasn't about to give this monster a chance to weasel himself out of this, he was going to end this right now! With a mighty blow he cleaved Kefka's head right of his shoulders, seemingly ending the reign of terror he had over the girl and avenging the people that had fallen prey to his schemes. "Just stay dead…" He spat, now watching over the reunited duo.

"T-tell me it isn't true Celes… I am not like…" She cried again. She hated herself for being so weak. She loved how Celes was hugging her, holding her tightly, like she always did when she came back from being experimented on, tortured would be a better definition.

"Sush… don't listen to him. You are the sweetest person I know off…" There were not many people Celes showed this side to. She could feel Terra shivering. It was just a matter of time before she finally realized the true consequences of her actions, and what worse way was there than to have Kefka telling you while he made you believe in his twisted logic as to why. "You never hurt anyone because you wanted. You always did it to protect others. Kefka has nothing to protect, he wants nothing to protect…"

"But all those people at Baron…" She whimpered. Celes separated herself from Terra, putting her index finger over her pale violet lips.

"Don't go there…" She whispered. "You didn't do it. Kefka did it. And now he's dead. You can be free now, you have people waiting for you…"

"How?"

"Now that you're free, what reason do we have to stay in the Empire? He told me this before he left. Vaan is also here from what I saw. You have Ramza. The Returners have Locke and Reks. Let's go to them. We can do whatever we want there." She assured her. Celes wanted to drive off any idea of Terra fighting right now, even if the Returners WOULD ask her, she needed only comfort now.

"Vaan and Shin… where are they?" Terra asked, now standing on her own two legs without having Celes to lean on.

"Somewhere near, trying to end this." She didn't know either. She hoped to be right.

"There's no ending this! Don't you get it?!"Ike and the duo turned to their side, praying to not be him. Again, the disembodied head talked. "You won't win this! You can't! We are more, we are stronger! And even if you weren't, humanity will burn itself one day! Why not give them some he-" No head could talk with the Ragnell splitting it in half.

"That's enough from you." Ike scowled, cleaning the blood and gore from his sword, disgusted by the man. It was weird, he knew him for moments and yet, Ashnard felt SANE compared to this person, if you could even call it that.

"It's finally over…" Terra sighed in relief as he saw the man she hated so much draw his last breath. She looked her claws, finally noticing she was still transformed, closing them in determination. "No it's not. This is only the beginning! Commander Ike! Where do you need me?!" This surprised Ike and Celes. She wasn't as fragile as they had thought.

"You think you can help us with that?" He pointed at Bahamut.

"Bahamut… I'll help you save him." She replied, confusing Ike.

"Save?" He interrogated.

"He's like me… A slave." She answered, taking to the air. "We must hurry!" And hurry they did.

* * *

"There are… more than I had expected." The swordsman that advised Bartz on taking off the locks on the gates from the inside was the best course of action said. The courtyard was filled with numerous, and by numerous I mean it, soldiers in waiting for the gate to fall. Zidane and Vaan were taking out the ballistae , leaving only about ten men to accomplish the herculean task.

"I don't think we can make it." Bartz said, resigned.

"I wouldn't be so fast in saying that." A woman in a revealing blue dress and a brown ponytail said, somehow having weaved into the crowd of ten. They were too surprised to actually respond.

"What's some girl from Eblan doing here?" Bartz asked, if only for the attire.

"I'm not "some girl", I am Izayoi of the Water. One of Eblan's Four Winds. And before you ask, if I wanted to assassinate any of you, I'd have done it by now." She made a fair point, Bartz wasn't paying attention at his surroundings all that much.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Well, against our warnings and beliefs, our Prince has ordered a full rebellion against this operation. This means that every ninja you can spot and most importantly, the ones you cannot are now on your side. We'll create a diversion, you just worry about getting the gate opened. Are you prepared? As soon as our prince arrives, we'll be going." And then a voice was heard.

* * *

Happening at the same time as our last segment:

"That's the Daein liberation force!" Micaiah pointed, the group now reduced to less than one hundred.

"If THAT'S your force, then you're going to have to go one to seven at the very least…" Edge commentated before smirking. "Well, you would, wouldn't you?" Micaiah didn't get what he was going for, but Elincia sure did.

"You're still going through this? Aren't they your…" She was quickly interrupted.

"Nothing in the Empire is my "comrade". I've been craving for this for ten years now. Land us there Rydia… Rydia?" He noticed right away there was something off with the woman that was flying with the help of her fairies. The wyverns and Pegasus were already taking two person's each so it made sense. Rydia seemed to be just staring into the distance. Only then did Edge know she was watching Bahamut claw the burning buildings, trying to hit a nimble and minuscule target.

"Bahamut wouldn't do this…" She said. "I have to go!" She tried to, but the ninja had already grabbed her wrist, immobilizing due to Schwartz being too strong for the fairies to overpower.

"Don't go now." He almost ordered. "Think for a second. Do you think you can take him alone?"

"I just have to get him to come back to his senses!" She exclaimed, trying to pull away, but Haar pulled the reigns and Schwartz stayed his ground, pulling the summoner back. "Let go!" She cried.

"You're not a kid anymore! I can't believe I am the one saying this to you but be reasonable! He's THE strongest there is! How can you fight the strongest of espers with weaker ones You. Can't. Fight. That!" Rydia was flabbergasted. She was being told to be careful… by EDGE. "Tell you what, let's take back the castle quickly. If the people there can hold him off for long enough for us to take it, which I am sure they are trying to, we can do this safely." She hated to admit just how freaking right he was but…

"You're… right Edge. I don't know what came over me. Micaiah, we'll help you before I go deal with my own selfish problems. Dying for being reckless won't solve anything." She said, coming to terms with how stupid she was being when she was hunting Kefka without any regards for anyone, even herself.

* * *

"Look, if you are lying, I just have to warn you, I'm not in a very forgiving mood right now." Shin warned the man in front of him.

"As much as I dislike doing this, my Prince ordered me to. When he arrives we will give you your opening. Can you not see how the ballistae are no more?" Gekkou of Fire, one of the Four Winds pointed out. "Speaking of which." Just then, the wyverns, plus Fiona appeared on the distance.

* * *

"Good…" Al muttered, slapping his face with both hands and smiling. "Final round Sigrud!"

"I accept…" He nodded, reading his blade.

* * *

"He's there." An old man whispered on Izayoi's ear.

"Okay boys. You'll get your distraction soon enough." She vanished and Bartz was left with only anticipation. Suddenly, every ninja inside the army backstabbed the nearest former companion while throwing a smoke bomb into the ground. Needless to say, all hell broke loose. Allies were killing each other, cures were heard along with the troops crying "TRAITORS!" and most importantly, there was absolutely no visibility on the front yard. This gave Bartz and the less bulky of his crew a free ticket to the door. The door was held shut by three wooden logs reinforced with steel.

"Okay, now… how do we open this?" Bartz wondered, he didn't expect THIS kind of security. In his castle, there were normally leavers to open the gate.

"Let me…" The same long haired soldier told him, pulling out not one but TWO swords, swiftly slashing with them as he jumped. When he landed, the logs simply slide before splitting in two perfectly matched halves.

"You still got it, huh Kilmar?" The only bulky one in the group asked.

"I just can't separate myself from it." The man commentated as the gate slowly opened, the giant creak it liberated stopping any inside fighting on the now order less and weakened army and replacing it with… fear.

"Surprise…" Sothe said with a snark as the oppressed nation's army marched in.

"Time to pay your dues." Micaiah said in a tone as dark as the night.

* * *

"Rest…" Ramza whispered on a soldier that had just refused to change sides, forcing him to impale him through the gut and lay him to rest on a tree. Ramza had decided to be part of the team that searched for the commander, and by decided I mean Tibarn had just picked him up. They weren't going to stay together, they had to find him and kill him quickly. Or, on Ramza's plan… he had to find him and if his guess was right, make him defect. "I still do not want to believe you are behind this kind of strategy…" Immersed in his thoughts where he wondered who it could be if it was not his friend and brother, it was only when he found himself alone in a dark clearing that he decided that his route was the wrong one. He decided to turn back, but he hear a leaf branch crack. "Who's there?!" He asked, drawing upon his sword. Another branch cracked. _"Is it an animal? "_ Ramza wondered, discarding it for it would be too much for an animal to still be so near a fighting area. _"This continent has no monsters… then what could it be? A Laguz?"_ It cracked again. He heard footsteps. Those weren't those of a Laguz. Those were beorc. And they were right behind him! He turned with his sword held high and saw what was but a squire, trying to assault him from behind. It pained him to do it, but he cut him down like an animal. The law of the jungle. "Why… you couldn't have… NO!" He exclaimed too late. Looking down, he saw a sword protruding from his chest. "A… live bait… who…"Falling to his knees and gasping for air he saw two feet incased in yellow armor making their way to his front. Looking up he felt much worse than he did by getting stabbed. "Delita…?" He asked as he beheld a man with brown hair similar to his and an equal armor, just colored yellow and red.

"Hello, Ramza." He said in a monotone voice.

"How could you… you set that man, that BOY, to his..." Delita… his BROTHER, one that had lived with him for all his life on the mansion and the army, had just kicked him on the wound.

"He died so you, a traitor, could die. More than enough." Ramza was beyond shocked. What had been the catalyst for such a change?! "Goodbye Beoulve." He unceremoniously said, no talk, nothing. He raised his sword to kill him. Ramza saw the blade descend and his mind was too filled with questions to react. Delita was then greeted to a bone-chilling pain as he felt his entire wrist be decimated by what he thought to be hundreds of small, sharpened daggers. Far from it. Daggers wouldn't pull his hand downwards, making miss his target. Daggers wouldn't be growling right now. Daggers weren't a giant violet wolf that had just pulled his fangs out the hard way, decimating his flesh before jumping in between him and Ramza when he backed off.

"I don't owe you one anymore boy." Nailah said, returning to her human form if only to spite Delita.

"So you're one of those monsters…"

"Keep talking boy, it's nothing I haven't heard before." She spat back, not the slightest bit affected. "Still, from what I can gather, you actually used one of your men, a child no less, as canon fodder to kill your brother-figure. Am I right?" She asked.

"Why do you desire such information? In any case, that would be correct." Delita answered, still with no remorse."

"That enough for ya?!" She hollered, from the trees appearing two beorc.

"Commander Delita… how could you?" Agrias was stunned, shocked, she couldn't believe it.

"Don't give me that look, we've done far worse. You'd be naïve to think otherwise." He answered, cringing as his wound tortured him.

"Then you must realize… I cannot comply with that. You'd be naïve to think otherwise." She instantly replied, drawing her blade.

"Ramza, you alright?" His machinist friend asked.

"I'll live…" Ramza coughed.

"I'll put a hole in his chest for you." He promised, rising up and raking his invention.

Realizing he was outnumbered three to one, Delita just grimaced and spat:

"This operation was doomed right from when it was first conceived. You will never arrive in time now." He took a crystalline object crushed it, the dust of the crystal surrounding his body, it beginning to glow and slowly vanish. "When we next meet Ramza, death will be the only thing you desire." And he vanished.

"Well, we already knew that, but still… to send his men to die like this." Nailah spat to the ground. "It makes my mouth taste bad just from his blood."

"The army will fall apart without a commander now. This I am certain." The newcomer woman said.

"You're the one that was meant to command if Delita lost his life. Can you not stop this?" Mustadio asked Agrias.

"I can try to rally some. The rest though…" Agrias said, crossing her arms. "That and, how would your army trust me? Nailah only did when he laid down our weapons in front of her."

"Anything to alleviate some weight would be appreciated. Don't worry about the rest, I have some influence, you know?" Nailah reassured her. "C'mon boy, I'll give you a ride." She transformed into a wolf and signaled Mustadio to put Ramza on her back. They all rushed back to the battle as fast as possible.

* * *

It was a massacre on the castle courtyard. Numbers couldn't accomplish what strategy and skill could. Disorganized and untrusting as they were after every ninja betrayed them they had no chance as the army and even the group of guards tore them apart from both directions. Micaiah and Sothe hated to admit it, but they felt a sick pleasure in doing this for a time. It didn't take long until they had cornered the remainders of their enemies against one of the castle walls. Now, they weren't going to stoop so low as to killing them without letting them chose, as such, Micaiah ordered her troops to stop, with Edge doing the same to Eblan's and she and Sothe stepped forward.

"You have ravaged my country, imprisoned me and my husband, stole our riches and most importantly, you tortured our people. I should have you beheaded right this moment." She told them, noticing some wincing from a number of the tens of soldiers trapped there. They didn't even had a commander, that was how abandoned to their fate they were. "However… I'm going to give you a chance at redemption. Anyone who is able to cut ties with your current allegiance and some to us, I'll promise that I will not only spare your lives, as I will give you shelter until you can find a home." Her offer was true but flawed as she would soon understand. One of the soldiers laughed and laughed, not in a joyful way, but with a sorrowful timbre on his voice.

"You can't really be THIS stupid and run a freaking country!" The soldier exclaimed. "Do you really think all of us are here on their own free will? If I forfeit, what do you think they'll do to my family? My wife, my children?!" Micaiah had no answer to that. No one there had. "I'd rather die here and save them than runaway so I can save my own hide!" Only then did Elincia fully understand why so little of Ramza's platoon had joined. Only those with no wives and kids had joined. Those with nothing to lose.

"_Maybe they know… they know that what the Empire is trying to accomplish is wrong. But, what they are fighting for is… right."_ She couldn't bring herself to hate them. Worse even, she felt horrible for killing all those people. Branding them as heartless monsters… was so much easier. _"No Elincia, keep yourself together.__ You knew this. You already knew all of this… You're stronger than this now!"_ And she managed to keep her face expressionless save for a small grimace.

"Well then, would you rather die or be imprisoned?" Micaiah asked.

"With Kefka? Kill us before he sees us conversing." That was good enough answer.

"Rest…" Micaiah reached out for her Rexaura tome, intending to end the men before they had any chance of suffering.

"Wait a minute!" This time, Bartz was the one to interfere. "So you're saying that if you knew your families were safe… you'd turn the coat?" The soldiers hesitated but nodded. "I can make that happen. I'll need the identity and where they leave. If you can tell me that, I'll have some people I know go get them in hours." He offered. This was something they had to think over carefully, but they unfortunately had a small distraction. A giant crash. Before they could look, a pink object fell right in their middle, breaking some ribs of the ones in her way. Everyone steered clear of the crashed object, fearing it. Elincia was the first to walk in.

"Terra?" She gasped, being momentarily scared at how she was in "that" form. But there was something about it that told her it was alright. She didn't know what, but maybe it the way she radiated her usual blue aura that told her this was indeed the person she had befriended.

"Elincia, you need to get out of…" Another giant crash. From the same direction Terra had come, its talons sinking into the stone like it was dirt. Apparently, Terra had been flung against the wall with such force that there was a prominent lack of stones on the upper part of it. Standing right there was a Dragon. The King of Dragons. He opened his mighty jaws, energy starting to concentrate in them.

"RUN!" Elincia cried, even if it was far too late. Bahamut was going to be able to shoot.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" But as he was about to, someone climbed on top of his head and carved a silver blade on its skull, deviating the beam into an empty tower of the castle, completely disintegrating it in a display of unmatched power. The dragon roared in pain, his massive wings flapping with such power everyone on the ground was knocked away and he himself took to the air.

"Damn it!" Ike cursed, clinging to the sword as best as he could. Elincia glimpsed Lyn grabbing on to the tail, but she also saw a person fall off in the wall. Fortunately, she didn't fall from very high so she should be alright. Said person got on her feet and looked at them.

"What are you waiting for?! Anyone that can fly DO SO! We need help!" Celes roared. Well, since any wyverns except Haar and Jill's were not in Daein for the time, combine with Daein's complete lack of Pegasus Knights, that really narrowed the choices.

"Terra, wait!" Shin called, only then managing to get through the crowd of onlookers. But Terra had already taken off, trying to cover Ike and Lyn.

"Gwydion!" Elincia called, the Pegasus nodding, as if it knew what to do, taking flight.

"That's a big one… well, guess I'll have to go. Schwartz!" Haar whimpered, taking this wyvern upwards.

"Wait!" Micaiah called, quickly jumping on the back of the wyvern.

"We'll go." Tiena took Jill's Wyvern. "We can cast magic."

"I'll go look for Zihark and Ilyana!" Sothe stated.

"Rydia." Edge began, grabbing her wrist. "Don't be a blockhead like me."

"Rub it in why don't you?" She smiled, lifting herself with the help of Sylph. _"He's right though…"_

* * *

"Ike, can you carve it off?" Terra asked as she rose to Ike's altitude.

"Nope, it's stuck." He replied, still trying to pull Alondite out. He felt Bahamut stir. "Watch out!" He warned. Terra quickly flew to the left to avoid the flare it sent from the mouth, countering with a giant ice-block to the face. This annoyed the Dragon King, but not as much as when Ike impaled his snout with the Ragnell. It didn't go as deep just so Ike could retrieve it, but it still hurt. He quickly spun in midair, catapulting the Vanguard off his back and sending the Blade Lord on its tail upwards. Lyn managed to grab a hold on one of his wings, but Ike wasn't so lucky. He found himself free falling for a few seconds, but, before the fear even kicked in, he was on a saddle. "Our roles have been reversed lately, haven't they?" He quipped.

"This is hardly the place and time for a joke Sir Ike… but I must say saving you is a guilty pleasure if only for the irony." She giggled as Haar and Jill caught up.

"Any idea?" Jill asked, Bahamut being too busy chasing after the shinning figure of Terra.

"We can't reason with him like this. We have to weaken him back to his human form." Rydia said with sadness.

"Take us in…" Tiena asked Jill and Haar.

"We'll try not to kill him Rydia." Micaiah promised, opening her tone.

"Elincia, let's go first, we need to distract him!" Ike told the Queen, who nodded and spurred Gwydion forward.

Terra had landed on top of Bahamut's head and was shocking it in hopes of messing with his brain. Didn't work. He shook her off, not without her grabbing the Alondite, and she was caught by the back of his wing, hurling downwards. It was then that Bahamut almost lost an eye to Rangel's shockwave.

"We're over here!" Ike called, waving his blade in defiance. Bahamut roared again, shaking the very souls of the present and began chasing Gwydion through the night's sky. Ike kept harassing him with his shockwaves and keeping its attention off the wyverns. When Terra recovered she did the same while Rydia was less enthusiastic but still fired off some Firas at the dragon. After three minutes of this, and when Ike was finally going to get caught, the skies opened.

"Rexaura!"

"Aureola!"

As the two light mages commanded, a massive sphere of light and a thin sliver descended upon the dragon, who had stopped and was watching, his weakened mind confused by the light in the night's sky. The tiny sliver made contact with the beast, erupting into a sea of light just before the sphere did the same, the explosion's brightness rivaling the sun. It seemed like daybreak had come early. Bahamut blared in agony, but their efforts only made him angrier. With a deafening roar, he shot a concentrated ray of energy that left explosions on its wake and began flaying it around without any control. The wyverns were caught in the explosions, so was Gwydion, and barely managed to recover in time to make the landing non-mortal. Terra managed to teleport out of the way of the explosions and was left face to face with the colossus. Bahamut growled and flapped his wings, rising above her. He stretched them open, light coursing through them as he prepared his ultimate blast. Terra tried to get close, but the winds were too much. Rydia suddenly appeared beside her, apparently having dodged all of that.

"5"

"BAHAMUT! You have to stop this!" She yelled out to him, stretching out her arms in a display of peace. "We don't want to hurt you!" The dragon stayed the same. Terra thought about leaving her esper form, but she didn't know if she could get back to it after leaving so she only stretched her arms wide.

"4"

"Bahamut… I only talked to you once by my own free will. You were like me, a prisoner whose only purpose for them was to be a weapon and a guinea pig. I know what you've been through. But please, fight it! I know you can! I did!" One of his eyes twitched, but nothing more, the earth was shaking at the power of the charging blast.

"3"

"Where is the person who took in a girl from another species and gave her a home ignoring all the precepts?! You are! But this isn't you! BAHAMUT! PLEASE! WAKE UP!" Something stirred inside the dragon as the countdown drew ever closer to its end.

"2"

"_My child… are you alright?" Bahamut in his human form, tall, black haired, detailed draconic armor, black with silver linings and violet crystals, was standing in the wreckage of what was a burned down village in the mountains. "You are the last one… are you not?" He kneeled beside her and stroked her short green hair. "You can tell me, I won't hurt you." Suddenly, the teen latched on to him, bawling her heart out._

_"My mother… everyone… dead! They're all dead! I should've listened! I shouldn't have trusted that outsider… he was my best friend…" She cried and cried, Bahamut continued to kneel, hushing her until she passed out._

_"You my girl, come here…" Bahamut was trapped in a cage, one that everyone knew not to touch if they wanted to enjoy their freedom. He wasn't about to ask the girl to help him, he knew it would only hurt her. The scared girl tiptoed her way to his side, accompanied by a brown haired youth. "You are certainly human… but you also feel like an Esper… Maduin, was he?" She just nodded. Bahamut laughed. "So he did it… Do not fret little girl, one day we shall escape this hell, and when we do, I shall watch out for you."_

"1"

"Bahamut! PLEASE!" They both begged, suddenly, his eyes jolted open, no longer empty.

"R-Rydia… and you my girl…" He mumbled as he regained his consciousness. "I am sorry for causing you distress… all I did, I remember oh so clearly…"

"Bahamut…" Rydia whispered, crying of joy. She wouldn't have been capable of accepting his death. "Now we can…"

"GAH!" Bahamut gasped as an unfathomable pain took over his back. With no strength on his body, he plummeted downwards onto the courtyard bellow, crashing with a sickening sound, only by pure luck not crushing anyone.

* * *

"What happened?!" Ike asked, running up to the wreckage.

"Bahamut! Bahamut answer me!" Rydia called, landing nearby. When the dust cleared, standing on top of Bahamut, claymore piercing his back and surrounded by blue flames, was Lyn.

"No dragon must be allowed to live…" Lyn's voice was not her own, it was as if it had been merged with someone's. Her look wasn't evil, but obsessed. When she pulled out the Durandal from his back, Bahamut began shining, blinding everyone. When the pure white light vanished, all it was left was the human form of the Esper, Lyn towering over it. Elincia recalled her words.

"Sir Ike, we have to stop her! That sword is making her do it!" She exclaimed, prompting Ike to dash to the woman in blue. But even then, it was too late. Not him, nor Terra, who was approaching from above, could reach her now that she had raised the Durandal with both hands, preparing to cleave Bahamut's neck.

"DOOOON'T!" Rydia cried, but Lyn, if it was her, wouldn't listen. As she swung, lightning struck. And everyone was just that, lightning struck. There was no blood, no gore, anything. The blade had been stopped. How the men with the brown cowl had arrived so fast, grabbing Lyn's hand was beyond anyone there. Well, anyone from Tellius. Terra was awestruck, she never imagined to meet HIM here. The soldiers? They were terrified.

"Never let your weapon control you. You are the master, she is the servant. For now, I'll alleviate you from the burden." With a flick of his wrist, Lyn's bones snapped, the Durandal carving into the ground centimeters away from the fallen dragon king. Lyn immediately passed out when that happened.

"T-t-thunder God Orlandeu!" One of the soldiers exclaimed.

"Ramza's teacher?" Ike recalled. The man was an old man, silver hair and beard, covered in a brown cowl and very mundane clothing. The only thing that stuck out was the sword and the scabbard. The handle was blue with rubies and gold lining while the handle was pure gold with a ruby in the center. "One of the Seven?! The Sword Saint!" He had heard of him, a legend between legends. No one even came close to challenging him. A monster in the body of a human. Perfection itself in battle.

"That is correct." He answered, turning to the soldiers.

"Please sir! We'll give you our lives willingly! Just spare our families!" One of them cried. Orlandeu's expression didn't move as he answered:

"Your families were already dead from the moment you failed, Kefka ordered it." The despair the innocent soldiers were feeling only brought rage to Ike, but Orlandeu quickly subdued it. "However, that is not honorable in the slightest. I will purposely diminish the security in the cities as long as I can. You may do what you want with that." He was… giving Bartz a chance to save them? "For your safety, never return to Palamecia."

"_He is dismissing them!"_Ike and Elincia were shocked. Was he…

"Fight for what you believe in. But know this. If we ever meet again, you will be my enemy." And with that, he turned to Ike.

"SIR YES SIR! THANK YOU SIR!" They all saluted. No matter how you locked at it, Orlandeu was a great man, Ike was beginning to realize that.

"My orders were two. One, to put an end to this battle. I will. By giving you the victory you so deserved. Sigrud will be retreating with me and the boy he was fighting will be left to live and fight another day." Tiena's heart almost burst of joy when she heard that. When Sigrud appeared during his speech, she expected the worst. "However, the second order is far more specific… Terra Branford, I am not to leave without you!" He drew his blade, silver it was and pointed it at the landing girl.

"Not in your dreams!" Ike shouted, drawing the Ragnell and charging. With an overhead slash, he tried to cleave him, but like a ghost, he vanished. Anyone else couldn't move. Their bodies had frozen at the mere sight of Orlandeu. Their bodies were ordering them to stay out of his way or they would die.

"Son of Gawain, lay down your sword." He warned, shocking the world.

"Don't mess with me! You couldn't have known my father!" He tried a sideways slash, which appeared to be predicted by the man. Again and again he slashed, none of them even coming close to connecting. "Predict this!" He threw his sword upward, spinning like a golden whirlwind. He jumped up and shouted: "Aether!" As he spun towards the man. The man simply swung his sword from left to right, catching the Ragnell and sending it flying away, with Ike doing the same, crashing a good ten meters away, incredulous.

"The style is the exact same. But your skills need practice. Your father, what has become of him?" He asked. As implausible as it was for Ike, he accepted it and revealed to him.

"Murdered." He replied, slowly standing up with the help of Elincia.

"What of the murderer, if there was one?" Orlandeu asked, his face having formed a grimace for a split second.

"Dead, by me." Ike answered. This time, Orlandeu didn't hide his disappointment.

"Old age made Gawain weak I see…"

"Actually, he sliced his good sword hand so he could atone for killing my mother in a fit of madness caused by chaos." Orlandeu sighed at hearing that.

"Ah… that explains it all." He turned his back at Ike, who scowled:

"Why do you sound so damn disappointed?!" Orlandeu gave him one last look.

"You are merely your father's shadow… a shadow of the one person who challenged me… Ike."

"What?! How?! And how do you know my name?!" He didn't get an answer.

"Now, little girl, how do you want to solve this predicament." He asked Terra, Sigrud riding to his side.

"You stay the hell away from her!" Sigrud shook his head when he saw Shin utter those words, Vaan and Celes blocking the way to Terra with him.

"You are honorable indeed, but Terra, will you send them to their deaths?" Sigrud asked of her.

"I'll come…" Terra answered, taking a step forward.

"Terra!" They all gasped, but were flung away by her powers. "I'm sorry…" Orlandeu felt horrible doing it, but orders were orders.

"Don't do it! Terra!" Shin shouted, she looked at them with tears in her eyes.

"Fly away now…" She whispered, taking one step forward, one step closer to renouncing herself. A bird chirped.

"It cannot be…" Micaiah gasped, hopping to be wrong. And wrong she was. A small bird had touched the rounds between Terra and Orlandeu .The cry of a hawk. The cry of a raven. The roar of a dragon. The roar of a lion. The howl of a wolf. Blue flames erupted from the bird. When they died down, one goddess and five rulers stood.

"This air breather is under MY protection! Want to try your luck with your tittle, "God"?" Yune scowled childishly like the girl she was on the inside. Orlandeu smiled.

"Maybe another day." He turned his back. "Sigrud, do you not thinking engaging them is folly? Whatever she is, she commands immense power…"

"I think so too…" Sigrud replied, turning his horse. They walked to the west, meeting with a group of three people. Ike recognized Cloud. Micaiah recognized her attackers. The brown haired one gave her and Terra an honest smile.

"People of Tellius… stay strong. Do not abdicate your beliefs. We'll do the same. If you do want your freedom… Rise. Rise to take it. I'll see you in battle." Orlandeu was unreadable by anyone there. What was he going on about was a mystery to even the one to his side, the black haired woman. "Aerith, take us back." The brown haired woman nodded, waving her hand and making them vanish in a flash of green.

* * *

"What the hell just happened?" Ike muttered.

"I… wish I knew…" Elincia replied, still stumped.

"It doesn't make any sense! Why would he leave us like that?! He had us on the palm of his hand. I know he had. He could take us all on!" Sothe exclaimed in the midst of his confusion.

"Orlandeu is a man of honor." Bartz said. "If there is ANYONE in the empire that's worth anything, it's him. If he doesn't agree with something and he can bend the rules enough, he will do anything to stop it. He gave us a chance. A chance we can't waste."

"Well, it's over for now, we cleaned up the rest of the army on out way here, so let's enjoy this!" Tibarn, in his blunt self said. "This isn't the time for grieving, take it from them!" Tibarn pointed at Terra's little group, which was now immersed in a group hug.

"Well, maybe he's right…" Micaiah agreed.

"We won." Elincia continued, turning to face Ike, whose smile just made her explode in red and look the other side.

"We won the battle, and are going to win this war!" He promised himself and everyone.

* * *

When the group hug subsided, Terra was back to human form. But this time, something was different. She was now supporting a blue vest, with lighter blue sleeves over a white leotard, a blue cape hanging from her shoulders, which were adorned by small silver wings, a blue skirt covered by multi colored straps covered her waist and a golden sash extend from it. She had white boots on and her hearings were blue with the shape of a water drop, her ribbon had the same form as before but it was colored in a different shade of blue.

"Lookie here, she actually promoted during this fight." Yune chirped, even more interested in Terra now.

It was then that Shin remembered something. He reached for his pocket and from it took the golden whistle. The box could wait for now.

"Happy birthday… as delayed as it is." He timidly said, handing the girl her present. She was flabbergasted by it, entranced by the golden color. She knew what it meant.

"How did you get one?!" She asked, taking the whistle to her heart.

"I asked Orlandeu actually… he breeds chocobos as a hobby. I didn't expect him to give me… that." He pointed at the whistle.

"I… I don't know how I can thank you enough for it…" She replied, looking away to find Celes' glare. Her glare was basically saying: Yes, yes you do.

"You don't have to tha-"If he knew what he was getting when he turned his head in the same direction as hers. In a very uncharacteristic act of initiative, Terra grabbed the sides of the tactician's head and pulled him in, planting her lips on his. He didn't expect that, but he would be damned if he pulled away. And so, in between some laughter, a dose of cheers, some snickering and a very resounding: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not her too!" from Zidane, the daybreak brought our heroes a much needed rest.

* * *

"She's developing in a… interesting manner. Perhaps retrieving her is not such a high priority anymore… And you cannot fool me, that girl of the blue flames… it has to be more than a human, more than an esper. I just saw a goddess!" From afar, watching an orb, the shadowy figure grinned, adjusting his glasses before laughing like a maniac.

* * *

_Take away one of the hydra's heads, and it will just grow another two._

_Even then, all heroes must rest. Castle Crimea is one place fitting for such. One may even find its life's dreams come true._

_Departure. To the wild blue yonder._

Next Time: Part One's ending! Goodbye Tellius!

_"Scratch the whole "family killing part"! I've got something a lot worse planned…"_

_"I won't take no for an answer Uncle!"_

_"What can I say? Yes, of course!"_

_"Do you want your wings?"_

* * *

**Cidolfus Orlandeu**

Sword Saint, Level ?

**Bartz Klauser**

Mime, Level 17

**Kilmar**

Dual Swordmaster, Level 20

**Kefka Palazzo**

?

**Terra Branford**

Magitek Elite, Level 20 to Esperkin, Level 1

**Delita Heiral**

Holy Knight, Level 17

**Agrias Oaks**

Holy Knight, Level 9

**Mustadio Bunansa**

Machinist, Level 7

**Izayoi**

Kunoichi, Level 10

**Gekkou**

Ninja, Level 11

**Tsukinowa**

Ninja, Level 12

**Zangetsu**

Ninja, Level 13

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Sooo… how did you like it? I worked my ass off for this chapter and I'm not afraid to admit it. So, any opinion, either bad or good, question, or just about any- Just review okay? I appreciate it and it speeds stuff up, believe me!


	9. Goodbye Tellius

******Author's note: **I rarely write chapters like this one. You'll see just why.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side**

**Chapter Nine**

******Endgame: Goodbye Tellius**

* * *

We resume our tale in what is the dark room we left off. It was barely lit whatsoever and the only light to break the darkness was the pale green light of giant test tubes. However, many would prefer total darkness over it as they all displayed the empire's corruption at its finest. Abominations of nature, monsters, failed experiments that would make a normal person throw up, take your pick. In one of them though, was a body of particular interest. Blonde in hair, this man had a chiseled body that could belong to a god. Pity it was always clad in makeup. Suddenly, the tube exploded and the man cried in frustration.

"You certainly took your time." One of the two men in the laboratory commentated, not even sparing him a glance after he burst out of the capsule.

"Your homunculi are, lacking better words, SHIT!" Kefka blared as he shook off the liquid from his body.

"I warned you of their weakness when compared to the original. I do not take responsibility for you recklessly fighting what could be our largest threat in a one on one scenario." The man seemed to be completely uninterested on Kefka, instead observing test tubes and writing notes on them flawlessly.

"Fine, so I went a little crazy… but I'm still going to have my fun!" The clown snickered, rubbing his hands together as his sickest smile found its way to his mouth.

"How so?" The man with the round glasses asked, curious for the first time.

"About that useless division… Scratch the whole "family killing part"! I've got something a lot worse planned… Tell the Masamune division to walk to their hometowns and just kill a couple of people. Maybe a family. Then tell them exactly why we did it. It's fun AND useful, they'll never think of betraying us again. Oh, and do it without that bastard Orlandeu knowing, the last thing I want is to sit through one of his honor speeches again."

"Very well…" Replied the man in front of a tube test that contained a very familiar silver haired man. "But what off the child?"

"Child?" Kefka was genuinely clueless about what the man had asked.

"The one we sent to the Lightbringer division three days ago. Experiment 728." For the first time since the conversation started, the men working on the experiments turned to Kefka, who shrugged.

"I don't have a clue of what you're on about Hojo." Hojo began trembling with rage while the other man kept calm.

"Hojo, who did you give _it_ to?" He asked.

"I don't know! I gave it to some couriers! She was still in the tube and all!" The other two looked at each other with a grim expression as they realized who the couriers were.

"The couriers were Eblanese!" They both snapped.

* * *

"So why did you want to show me your room?" Rydia asked Edge, the ninja nodding. They had decided to take the day to help the townsfolk and search the castle before leaving for Castle Crimea. Bartz had told them that Crimea was the best and only way for them to infiltrate back now.

"Well, there was something Izayoi handed to me a couple of days ago. It was a very… interesting package. I didn't know what to do with it. I had to give it to Kefka, but I was afraid of what he would do to her." Rydia cut him off right there.

"Her?" She asked before Edge nodded and approached the wall. He slowly extended his hand forward until it stopped in midair, as if it was touching an object.

"Release." Edge commanded, the area in front of him exploding in a green light. Rydia covered her eyes until it faded, fumbling at what she saw after uncovering them. It was a giant testing tube that contained what seemed to be a five-year old girl with short turquoise hair inside, her body completely bare. "From what Izayoi could gather, this is part of what they call the Project Maenad, a follow up to Project T-E-R-R-A. She was sent here to evaluate their battle capacities." He explained, moving to his wardrobe to pull out a pale white dress about her size.

"So she's…" She broke off before she said what she didn't believe possible.

"Manufactured, yes. She's still a person though." Edge confirmed. "She was made with the best cells the empire could get its hands on… including you." Rydia gasped in surprise while Edge turned his head away. "I gave them a lock of your hair…"

"How could you?!" Rydia exploded. She couldn't believe Edge would go as far as to provide the empire with a way to essentially steal her very being. Edge took a deep breath and explained:

"They wanted you alive. When I let you go I cut off a lock of your hair and gave it to my father, saying that you burned in the fires and this was the best I could get from you." Rydia instantly felt terrible.

"I'm sorry I…"

"Don't be, I would be mad too… the reason I kept this girl wasn't because I wanted to rebel or anything. It's just because, look at her face." Rydia took a better look at her and noticed what Edge was trying to say. Her face was just like Rydia's when they first met. She was five and Edge was seven at the time. The prospect Edge still remembered that after all these years barely made it to her mind, she knew she would end up like a tomato so she changed the subject as fast as she could.

"Let's get her out of there, shall we?" She suggested. Edge nodded with relief now that Rydia had seemingly forgiven him and broke the glass, grabbing the girl while Rydia dried her with a towel. They then softly slipped her into her clothing and laid her down on the bed. "You think she'll wake… up?" Rydia turned her head to Edge for a second, returning it to the girl and pausing as she did. She was already sitting up, staring at them with analyzing eyes.

"Mother… Father?" The girl asked meekly, exchanging looks with Rydia and Edge.

"Oh for the love of…" Rydia half-heartedly lamented.

"Oh god yes!"

* * *

"Well, you carried that around for long enough, don't you think?" Shin asked Terra, who looked back confused. "It's a whistle, blow it."

"Oh, right! I was just thinking what would I call the chocobo…" She answered. "But I'll think of something when I see it." With this, she took in all of her strength and blew the whistle. The sound was shrill but not unpleasant, as paradoxical as that sounded. Terra then stared at the skies for a few minutes. Shin had told her. Trickster Chocobos fly and they know how to mere days after being born. Soon enough, her eyes sparkled as a near supersonic figure crossed the skies, leaving behind it a shining trail, so fast it was. The bird landed directly in front of Terra and warked. First, it turned to Shin and hit his head playfully with its beak, playfully AND painfully though.

"Bad girl!" Shin spat back. The chocobo wasn't having any of it and plucked him three times more. "Fine! Be that way!" Terra was taking in the sight. Shin had told her the chocobo was two months old now, but it didn't seem like it. Yes, it was a bit smaller than most chocobos and yes, it was impossible for it to carry two people at the same time, but it was still as tall as her. The feathers really gave it a regal feel though, they reflected the sun's light perfectly, if the sun was hitting it directly from the back, it would almost be blinding. The trail it left due to its speed and the reflection was almost like…

"Does she have a name?" Terra asked her… well it wasn't official yet so I don't know. Anyway, Shin shook his head, to which Terra smiled. "Do you like… Stardust?" She asked both him and the chocobo. Shin wasn't going to say no to Terra and since the chocobo was a girl, an "unmanly name" was actually fitting. The bird seemed to like it. Hell, the bird seemed to like Terra in general. It had taken him weeks until he could get it to cuddle to him, for Terra it was instant.

"Look at him… taking her all to himself…" Zidane fumed from behind a bush.

"Oi Zidane, are you sure this isn't another crush?" Vaan asked, a bit skeptical.

"No! She's the-"

"Love of my life. Yeah, like Stella, Rinoa, Tietra, you even hit on freaking Celes just now, who I TOLD you had a boyfriend… I can keep going you know?" Vaan pointed out, to which Zidane spat back.

"This is different!" Zidane protested, but Vaan already knew what to say.

"Garnet-different?" He pointed out. Zidane took the hands to his chest like he had been shot on the spot.

"Not THAT different… But I'll never get near Garnet." Vaan didn't like how pained Zidane seemed, but he had to make him realize that.

"Well, do what you want. Just don't be a prick." Vaan said, shrugging and leaving him to his thoughts. There was now a pretty big crowd around the chocobo. The ones from the Empire gawked at its coloration while the Telians had scarcely seen Chocobos up close and ones that didn't want to kill them even less. Terra was beginning to become uncomfortable in the middle of such a big crowd, hating to be surrounded by people as she did but fortunately someone took the attention.

"I knew that from the way you acted you had a past… but to be parents?" Micaiah questioned, the people of Daein turning at the sound of their queen's voice.

"We weren't until five minutes ago." Rydia excused, the girl they had found now clinging to her leg in a futile attempt escape the leers. Edge then explained that they had found her and such, but let the part where he knew her past out until they were in more accepting hands. Still, the mere presence of the girl seemed to unsettle both Laguz and Beorc as her gaze was far too penetrating for a child and she exuded an air of mystic energy so thick even normal peasants could capture. Terra recognized it immediately as it was almost like hers, especially before she learned how to control it in Zalbaag's care to not attract unneeded attention to her. Not surprisingly, Lehran, called Sephiran by many, not only noticed the similarities immediately, but he also walked to the middle of the crowd and told Micaiah.

"General Ike would want to see us now. The rest of our army is rested enough." The Chancellor told the Queen, who nodded at it before walking with him, taking with her our heroes. Ike was already talking to the Laguz Kings about how they should not waste time, and as such they should leave their armies here, to which they agreed, even Garret would stay behind and help. After a very uneventful conversation, they decided it was time to depart.

* * *

Fifteen days. Fifteen days was what it took for them to journey back to Melior. You'd think a lot would happen in such a large period of time… but nothing worth mentioning did. I'm being completely honest here. The only part we should mention was the girl's seeming complete and total knowledge of the world around her, very unnerving for a five year old and how ironically she knew nothing of manners and relationships, further pushing Rydia into a mother-figure. Edge tried, but he was just good at playing with her, teaching her morals would end catastrophically. Lyn barely talked during the journey, understandably so. However, she did not neglect her commitment towards Mia. One day, two days before their arrival more specifically:

"C'mon, lighten up!" Mia suddenly snapped in-between a spar with Lyn. The older woman was taken by surprise, but did not lower her guard.

"What I did was…" She was interrupted by an over headed slash that made her block with her katana.

"Completely understandable. Didn't you tell me Eliwood even killed the person he LOVED because of that sword?" Lyn cringed at the word, but pushed Lyn away and nodded. "Well, ever heard of necessary risks? Nobody died because of it."

"That doesn't make it _okay_ as you would say." Lyn retorted, now going on the offensive by vanishing and reappearing above Mia. Mia already knew of her techniques and as such easily dodged.

"Nobody said it had to be _okay_, but it's been two weeks, forgive yourself and move on! I mean, you made ME move on!" It wasn't as much as what Mia had gone through as the fact that the situations were reversed in so little time that shocked Lyn. She smiled at how Mia was trying to get her out of said depression and poised her blade. Ten of her appeared surrounding Mia, who had no idea what to do. She managed to parry three of the true Lyn's slashes, but the final one reached her neck.

"I'll give it a try. You still have a lot to learn though." She sheathed her katana and kept glaring at Mia. "Still, not from me. Your style is in itself fundamentally different from mine. I taught you a better way to pose based on Stefan's and mine, but this training was mostly physical and psychological. For technical training, you'll have to seek another teacher. I can still spar, but not much more." She thought Mia would be distressed at how fast Lyn had revealed this, she had been thinking about it for weeks but only now did it seem appropriate to reveal, Mia had passed the test. She didn't know Mia enough.

"Someone with a style more similar to mine?" She showed Lyn one of the most open and cheesy smiles she had ever seen. "I got just the guy!"

* * *

The rest of the trip had little to no interest until their arrival at Melior. They were offered rooms at Castle Crimea and a day to rest from their journey. Mist wasn't one to sleep the whole day like her brother was so she found herself visiting the castle's garden in the afternoon. She was just contemplating the beautiful roses when she saw a different shade of green in the corner of her eye. Someone who, even though she had talked to in the past weeks, she didn't get a chance to speak to alone. As such, she followed Rolf to the archery field, which was empty luckily and, just as the newly promoted Marksman was reaching for his arrow, she called out to him.

"Rolf!" She exclaimed, finally catching up to him. "Wasn't this day a day to take off? Even Shinon is resting."

"Uncle Shinon simply went to the forest to shoot falling leafs. I'm not quite at that level yet…" Mist was completely out of her mind. Even for Shinon, that was crazy talk. That was a conversation for another day though.

"Rolf… I've been meaning to ask. About Teresa, you've been talking to her, how's it going?" She wasn't going to dance around the subject. Rolf sighed and ruffled his grassy hair.

"I haven't forgiven her Mist. I still… well hate is a strong word so maybe I _dislike_ her. But now I think I can…" He stared at Mist's confused expression and smiled. "I think I can forgive her. If she doesn't change, if she proves to me, I'm prepared to do it. Before, I never even thought on giving her such chance. Now? Maybe… just maybe." Mist couldn't help but smile at the response.

"Rolf I… I'm so proud of you." A small tear welled up on her right eye, one that she quickly cleaned off. "That was the single most mature response you have ever given to me. Most people never reach that level. I always thought you were only growing in size, but I see now that I was wrong."

"In all fairness, I was probably what you thought I was until very recently. And even then, if it weren't for your father's words I'd still be." Rolf replied, a bit taken aback by how big the impact of his speech was.

"Even then… you're not a kid anymore Rolf. You're a man now." That was hardly the case, he was fifteen, recently made even. "A real one, not a kid that wanted to look like one. You just… stop being you to cope with the wars, I don't blame you, you were ten when you were forced to start killing, but it was sad." Rolf cringed at the statement. It was true on so many levels it was just disgusting. "I'm glad… I thought I was going to lose you to yourself." She finished, giving him one big hug. "Welcome back." She didn't however, count that he'd hug her back.

"Good to be back…" He whispered softly. From afar, Shinon had returned and watched the whole scene.

"Tsk, now I can't treat him like a kid anymore…"

* * *

"Calm yourself, let it flow into you, don't fall to the rage…" Shin told Terra as she struggled to control her transformation. On his hand he had the hairpin they had used to restrict it so a backup plan was already made. Terra shivered as her skin slowly began cackling and was replaced by her magical counterpart. It wasn't hard to transform, it was too easy. One misstep and she could lose herself in the power. It just felt so good… without her noticing her consciousness was waning and her eyes rolling to the back of her head. "Terra, focus!" She quickly snapped out of it. She was thankful that he had taken his day off to help her, lest she lose control like she was going to now. They had been at it for three hours now. The best Terra could produce was to maintain her form for four seconds. She could still transform her hands or feet with relative ease, lasting two minutes, but that wasn't going to help her if she was to fight Orlandeu or any of her former comrades in the God Generals. In self-defense of course. She wasn't so sure she wanted to keep fighting. "I think we should stop for today." Shin suddenly stated, standing up from her bed where he had set and whipping the sweat from her forehead. "I can see it's hard for you to concentrate now." What, her mind could be read now?

"How did you know?" She asked. Shin just smiled and ruffled her hair.

"I just know you Terra." Come to think of it, Terra had never noticed how tender were the looks he gave to her. Maybe she had never tried to see it, but it seemed very hard to miss in retrospective. "Today was a good day, I never saw you transform completely on your own whim." His compliments also felt a lot better than usual to her.

"Shin… how long have you… you know?" She had to know if she had been as bad as she thought to him.

"Well, I liked you ever since I saw you for the first time. But if you ask me how long it was that I loved you I wouldn't be really able to tell. One day, I just woke up and realized I spent more time daydreaming in training about you than getting things done. I'd say five years is a safe bet." That was not only surprisingly direct and to the point, but it also surprised Terra just how easily he said "love". "Don't feel bad about it. It was worth the wait."

"Still, you could've waited a lot more. I didn't know I felt like this. It was more of a reflex to kiss you. And even then, I was afraid thing's would get weird…" Shin just laughed, making her uncomfortable. "What's so funny?!" She pouted.

"You and Ike have more in common than I thought." Terra gave him an inquisitor look. "Oh, c'mon! Ike, Elincia? Hello?"

"They do seem to share something…"

"Seem is an understatement. Well, tell you what. Let's go for a ride. I can ride Star and you fly. What more unique way to have a first date?" That word stills sent shivers down the girl's spine.

"So... we're… how do you say? An item?"

"I think so. If you're not leading me on." He didn't think that, he was just poking at her.

"NO!" She exclaimed fiercely. Shin laughed again. A few moments passed before she realized how she had been had. "YOU'RE SO MEAN!"

* * *

Tibarn was bored. And I mean VERY bored. So bored he was he was walking aimlessly down the castle. He didn't want to be the king of not one but two tribes, but he had to admit, it was fun ordering Naesala to do all the paperwork, even if that DID leave him with nothing to do. Come to think of it, he was about to pass near Elincia's quarters. With a smile on his face he decided to pay a visit, maybe spite her with some talk about Ike. She needed to be PUSHED into him if something was to happen. Ike certainly wasn't going to figure it out, and she was far too shy. Maybe Terra proved his point wrong, but Elincia also had been taught that a queen could only be involved with nobles so that only added to the wall between both. He arrived at the quarters and found himself arriving between a heated argument. So heated he stayed outside and just listened.

"I will not take no for an answer Uncle!" He heard Elincia blare in a way he had never heard her.

"Elincia, you are a queen now! You cannot embark on dangerous quests just because you fancy your time with Sir Ike." He heard Renning answer full of conviction.

"Are you proposing that I should, after a mere two weeks, let Ike again leave onto a war? I was without him for an entire, agonizing year! I also spent three years without one word from him! And Tibarn, Naelsala, Skrimir! They all are kings! And yet, they go where they are needed!" Elincia was downright shouting at this point. The maids that passed by the room were left dumbfounded to hear their queen shout, but kept to their own tasks, especially with the glares Tibarn sent them. They would be thinking twice before starting rumors with the Hawk King watching them.

"Elincia, you know how the beorcs treat their kinds differently. They need their rulers to accomplish anything. We order them, we guide them. The Laguz are far more independent. They only need their king for political relations and in a war scenario, not much more." Tibarn admitted that Renning raised a fair point. "And to answer your other question… yes. That is exactly what I propose. Maybe that way you will finally let go of that foolish puppy love and come to find a suitable suitor." Aaaand he completely lost any support from Tibarn.

"I… can't believe you said that Uncle Renning. I HATE YOU!" Elincia blared for a final time, bolting out of the room with tears in her eyes, slamming the doors behind her. She was going to dash away, but she found a muscular body blocking her path.

"Calm down Elincia, it's just me." Tibarn said in a collected voice. "Look, I know you need some time alone, and I'll give you that, but first. Do you want me to speak to your uncle? I could try and convince him to serve as king in your absence."

"You'd do that for me?" After seeing Tibarn nodding she cried a bit more. "What can I say?! Yes, of course!" Tibarn laughed.

"I figured as much. Okay, I'll give it a try. Go relax someplace else. Don't look for Ike though, he's probably a rock in his bed." Right he was.

"Okay, thank you again!" And she headed to the garden.

"Now what…?" Tibarn asked himself, immediately regretting his decision.

* * *

Elincia headed towards the garden, which was surprisingly empty. She headed for her favorite flowers, the violets which she herself cared when she had the chance. The queen of Crimea knelt to their side and started snipping the excesses in the flowers, watching for weeds and carefully watering them like they were newborns. Not long had passed before all the menial tasks had been accomplished and Elincia was left to simply admire their beauty, her mind being transported outside of our realm… for about five seconds.

"Queen Elincia, I will speak to you now, and you will listen." The way those words almost cut through her eardrums and that wild hint in the tone gave away what would be Elincia's mystery person. She turned her head and was now locked into Lethe's wild feline purple eyes. She usually showed courtesy to the queen, but Elincia had insisted on having her act natural around her, since she was one, if not THE closest Laguz friend she had. She did seem especially ticked off today.

"The way you talked to your uncle was a disgrace!" And especially brutal. "I am not done, you will talk when I say you can!" Elincia just nodded, almost scared of her going cat and ripping her to pieces if she talked. "You BEGGED him. Like a dog. What kind of ruler are you? He is your SUBJECT!" Elincia had no idea why she was so upset, but she was going to do as she said. "Answer me this. Do. You. Love. Ike?" Okay. That wasn't the easiest question Elincia could hear at that moment. "I'm not hearing an answer. Yes or no?" Still, in a yes or no situation…

"Yes…" Elincia confessed meekly.

"Then what the… HELL was that all about? You, as a queen, should have ordered him to stay here and tend to your subjects while you would go with him. I do not understand you beorcs and your politics. Once, I thought you were a good queen, after what I witnessed here today… I have my doubts." She finished, turning her back on the emerald haired woman.

"Lethe why are you…" Elincia began, Lethe answering instinctively.

"I didn't even try… don't you dare give him up so easily." Elincia's mouth was wide agape, she had no idea that… "I think you will, but I sincerely hope that you do what most beorcs have failed to do… Prove me wrong." She transformed into a cat and jumped away, leaving Elincia to think for herself.

"Lethe… You're right!" She exclaimed with newfound resolve.

* * *

The morning of the next day, a council was invoked. The council room was packed full of people, so most had to stand.

"So, you suggest that we take a boat to circumvent the mountains since it's likely they will be covering that part of Baron?" Ike asked, Bartz replying with a nod.

"I already talked with Lucia and she said she will prepare a boat in Port Melior. The town is very recent, but it already has boats." Bartz answered.

In an attempt to strengthen the ties with Daein, a port town had been built directly north of the capital for quick transportation in the commerce between capitals. The mountain east of Crimea made it hard for on foot trade.

"But how big should the regiment be?" Elincia then asked, to which Soren found his time to intervene.

"I already discussed this and his superiors agree. Most of the army should stay here. We'll lead a small elite force that will help them take over specific vantage points. As soon as they are ready to strike Baron, the forces of Tellius and the returners in a pincer attack will be too much even for the second greatest nation on their continent to handle. This can take time, but moving an army through enemy territory is simply unfeasible, and Baron is still protected by two other nations, so an immediate assault is not an option." As always, Soren's plans seemed to be magnificently thought out.

"And who would be this "elite force"?" Renning asked.

"I do believe the Greil Mercenaries have shown time and time again we can handle it. We do however, request some outside help as we need a more than ourselves." The room grew silent in anticipation. "I talked with Micaiah and Sothe. Pelleas will lead Daein, her future sight is too valuable." That was to be expected. "We hired Volke." One could see a shadow nod. "Ranulf is coming, Lethe as well at his request." Ranulf nodded happily, Lethe just sighed. "Of the bird tribes, the strongest member that is not their kind. Naesala." Tibarn clinched his muscles. "A heron had to come. I chose Leanne because Reyson can aid Tibarn's leadership while the tribes aren't quite united yet. Furthermore, Stefan is the arguably the best beorc in the continent sans Ike, so I request him to come." Stefan, in his ceremonious long white gown nodded in acceptance. "To guide the boat, Nasir, Kurthnaga is a black dragon, I don't think I need to explain my thought behind that decision." He took a deep breath and finally added. "I'd love to bring with me a Pegasus knight or a wyvern knight, but Haar is with Sigrun the only two that can lead an aerial assault for beorcs…" Soren was leading to something.

"Tanith should suffice." And Geoffrey was pushing that away.

"We need the best of the best." Soren put out.

"Tanith is no slacker." He was testing Soren's patience.

"I'm not one for soft words. Elincia could take her, Marcia and probably even Sigrun all at once. She can also heal. Strategically, she is the better choice." Soren playing favorites, we had seen it all.

"Sorry my gallant knight in blue, but in this the dark clad mage is right. Our impetuous queen is Crimea's finest." Even Bastian was taking Elincia's side. Elincia kept thinking she wouldn't need to even ask her Uncle again, order him if needed.

"Pity she isn't an option." Renning intervened. "Our people need her."

"They do not. They have you." Ike pointed out.

"Ike, you do not know the balance of the sanity in a country. A queen abandoning us would fill the people with distress and fear." Then, the last person that was thought to interfere did.

"Are you not using the people as a mask for yourself?" The girl, who had grown a few inches by now, strangely I know, had floated onto of the table and was now staring deeply into his eyes.

"And who are you to say that child?" Renning dared, unaffected by the girl's mysteriously wise aura.

"I am Cuore as my mother baptized me. Cuore means heart, as I can see into the hearts of others. I observe you beorcs and the Laguz, I learn your movements, my mind is filled with much more empirical knowledge than you will probably ever possess. The way you clutch your muscles, the way your eyes move. You are what humans call… afraid." Her words seemed to resonate in Renning's mind. He had convinced himself that he was doing this for the people but could he… no, how could this child be right? She was a toddler.

"Child, the tricks of your _kind_ will not work on me. This is not open for discussion." The insult he weaved in seemed to have no effect on the girl.

"Humans are truly weak." She spat, returning to her mother. The entire room had not taken its eyes away from the girl, who seemed to have returned to a normal six year old by hiding behind her mother's legs. Strangely, when she peaked out, for a moment you could see how cold her eyes really were. Soren saw a bit of himself in there for a reason.

Ike on his end was about to continue the discussion, but Soren touched his shoulder and shook his head. Somehow, Ike managed to quench his anger. "I'll trust you on this…" He hissed, to which Soren didn't respond.

"Finally, we'll take everyone from other contients but the captured soldiers stay." Soren finished. Terra nodded, she almost thought she'd be left behind… not that she'd mind all that much.

"Is that all?" Renning asked?

"Yes, further details about the war will be sent afterwards. The sooner we depart, the better." Soren finished.

"Pack your bags ladies! We're going on an adventure!" Zidane exclaimed. "A whole three months in a boat with me…" He growled and licked his lips, looking at every girl that was not married. "It will be legen… I hope you are not lactose intolerant because the next word is…"

**BONK!** Right in the head

"Don't you dare finish that sentence. We can be sued!" Vaan ordered, but it was too late.

"Dairy…"

"Screw you Zidane."

* * *

The meeting was shortly over and with that came the preparations to leave. Elincia vanished from sight, leading us to follow one of the others.

"You can go and inform our village of our agreement with Crimea. I expect you to fight for Tellius with the other nations as I would." Stefan told a branded man from his village, seeing him off. He thought off changing his clothing back to normal, his time with royalty had ended and as such, he had no need for the white gown he was wearing. He turned to his room, finding a familiar purple haired Trueblade covering her mouth with both her hands as she stared at him. "How can I help you Mia?"

"I feel sorry for you…" Rhys whispered as he passed by his side.

"MY FATED RIVAL!" Mia shouted, the castle trembling with the sheer magnitude of the scream.

"Wha-"

* * *

Elincia didn't even say goodbye to the group, who left being celebrated by the ones who stayed. No, she went to find her uncle and confronted him.

"Uncle Renning, I command you, as ruler of this kingdom, that you take the throne in my absence!" She ordered in a way even her uncle was taken aback.

"So… you are still on about that? You leave me no choice. Do it." Before she could react, something hit her on the back of the head and she fainted.

"I will not let you go to your death Elincia…" Geoffrey whispered as she fell.

* * *

By the time she woke up she was in a cell in the dungeon of her own castle. Ironic, Ludvek was once imprisoned her. She saw no guard, but all of her gear was outside the cell, including her sword. For the first time she cursed her Uncle and Geoffrey. She knew they wanted her safety first, but she couldn't help but feel like a child that needed parenting when they took over. Sighing deeply, she resigned herself into lockdown. She almost expected Ike to come bursting in and freeing her, almost. She waited minutes, hours for someone to come and save her. Nothing. She looked to the outside and saw the sun approaching the time for sun down. By now they were all boarding the boat… A lone tear escaped her right eye. Trapped inside her own castle… by her own people. Yet again. Was she wrong in trying to be a queen? Had she even changed? Her thoughts kept getting darker and darker until a rock entered through the small window had. She ran to it. It wasn't a rock… it was something wrapped in a letter. A key! She grabbed it and saw how it was the same as the prison's key. She then read the letter.

"Do you want your wings? The wings of freedom? If so then…"

* * *

"Elincia… I know you wanted to meet all of us. How did you escape?" Her uncle asked as him, joined by Bastian, Lucia and Geoffrey arrived at the castle's roof.

"It doesn't matter. What matters Uncle, is that I have already given Marcia a letter proclaiming you the ruler of Crimea in my absence." She replied to him, not even sparing one glance as she looked on to the horizon where the Crimean port would be.

"Stop being a child! Your Pegasus has been apprehended! You cannot catch up with them. As much as it pained me having to use force, me and Geoffrey have agreed that…"

"You can control my life?!" She roared, eyes seething as she turned to them. She could tell by Lucia and Bastian's expressions they had no idea what had gone about and she was not going to be the one to tell them. "Geoffrey, Uncle. I had decided to go away and accepted the fact I could die if I kept Lord Ike company. I have no fear in what I am about to do." With that, she climbed to the ledge.

"Elincia! Don't be a child!" Renning shouted, Geoffrey bursting out in a sprint when he saw the woman slowly let herself lean back into the void behind her.

"Take care… I'm going to get my wings now." She said, letting herself fall into the unknown.

"ELINCIA!" Geoffrey shouted in despair, quickly arriving at the edge and looking down, only to be covered by a green and brown flash heading upwards. His body tensed ad his teeth gritted against each other as he muttered. "Tibarn…" Soon after, he heard another pair of wings beat as Gwydion passed over him, on top of him Volke, saying:

"Nothing personal." As he galloped to the Hawk King.

"I do have to admit. Our queen is always able to circumvent even our most well-crafted plans." Bastian comentated with a chucked.

"Was I... wrong?" Renning asked himself, staring at the departing Queen.

* * *

"I gotta admit, I didn't think you had it in you to just jump." Tibarn told Elincia midflight.

"I've changed quite a bit as you see. But what about you, don't you have duties to…"

"Reyson can handle it. I need some good ol' scuffles to get this blood flowing!"

"Same old Tibarn…" Elincia giggle happily, especially when she saw Volke arrive.

"Want to get back in your ride?" The hawk asked.

"Do I have to? It's not every day you ride the Hawk King!" She pouted, now without a care in the world.

"There's just something inherently wrong with Volke ridding a Pegasus… but I guess that just makes it better."

"We'll be there in an hour." Volke said professionally, hiding his embarrassment. It was so weird. He would get embarrassed at jokes and thank yous, but he was so cold everywhere else.

* * *

"Something the matter Ike?" Soren asked, seeing as Ike was staring at nothing specifically when he would normally be chatting with the crew.

"Wasn't it strange how Elincia just vanished by the end of our stay? Maybe we should have pressed her uncle a bit more…" He lamented, causing Soren to chuckle at his reaction. "What? I know that reaction Soren, what exactly did you do?!"

"I did nothing in particular…" He said with a hidden smile on his lips. "He did." He finished as one of the crewmen shouted:

"Hawk on starboard bow!"

"Oh you magnificent bastard…" Ike congratulated as he saw Tibarn arriving, Elincia waving while the strangest sight of Volke ridding a royal Pegasus made most of the Telians fall to the ground clutching their stomachs.

* * *

"Sir Roy!" One of his most trusted archers, Wolt called as he made his way into the throne room. "We have a message from Lord Al."

"Well Wolt, just read it!"

* * *

"Marth, the scouts say the frontier is heavily guarded." Shiida told the Emperor.

"How heavy?" Marth asked his wife.

"Full-on war heavy." The Pegasus rider regretted to inform.

"We'll talk to them. If they refuse passage, we'll give them their wish."

* * *

"My Queen, you have an audience. May I introduce, Princess Eirika of Renais."An one eyed soldier in a white coat told the burly woman, who scuffed in acceptance.

* * *

"Bartz will reach Dalmasca in three months?" A brown haired man asked an black haired one as they sparred with two mechanical and very strangely designed swords.

"That's what he told me by the phone." The other confirmed. "What are you going to do now, Squall?" Suddenly, the brown haired one named Squall pushed the trigger on his strange sword, vibrating it and disarming the black haired one.

"Train Noctis. Blood, sweat and tears."

* * *

_And so we end our first act. In it, we were introduced to a peculiar cast of misfits, from Heroes to Zeroes. From humans to strange creatures, even passing in the middle sometimes. Good and Evil. Forced allegiances and breaking of vows. But this is only the beginning, a prologue if you will. What can happen when continents separated by a millennia eventually clash. If human race is to be trusted, conflict is inevitable, and worse yet, picking a righteous side is not always as easy as it would seem. Friends will be made and fought. Bonds from opposite sides of the conflict. Who knows, maybe even tricking Death herself. All that and more in…_

**Act 2: The Leonhart Rebellion.**

"_Oh you won't be leaving me out of this preview! Next time you'll have the PLEASURE of being illuminated by the great, manly and most of all mighty __**JECHT**__!"_

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:** Rainbows… rainbows and unicorns everywhere… God damnit, this chapter is too mushy! If I was a girl, I'd loved the chance to go all crazy in "shipping" but by god… I need to write a freaking massacre to get over how freaking lovey-dovey this turned out. Okay, rant off. At least I advanced the plot a bit and Cuore is fun to write… And no, she's not an OC guys, if you thought so, I'd have you know that FFIV DOES have a sequel. She has what? Two minutes of air time in the end, but I don't care, I'm too much of an EdgexRydia fanatic to let a chance like that go away. Anyway, if you vomited rainbows at this chapter, enjoyed it or whatever the heck you felt and are still here, the review box is down there. Now do it before I sick Jecht on you! I mean it!


	10. I'll Cry Your Tears

******Author's note:**Well, a new part begins! Let's kick it open like a boss!

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 2: The Leonhart Rebelion**

**Chapter Ten**

******I'll Cry Your Tears**

* * *

Ah, the wonders of medieval technology… Two months have passed ever since the departure from Crimea and yet, the boat is still sailing. Not that his would surprise anyone after the four months it took from Crimea to Begnion, but it was still pretty annoying for most of our heroes. The boat, while big, was not a good substitute for freedom. Many things happened on the trip, but let's let our heroes inform you.

"URG! When do you we arrive?!" Lyre shouted out of pure frustration, looking on from the mast of the ship before jumping back to the center of it. "We've been going for MONTHS now! I've had it!" The cat Laguz shouted as she ruffled her hair in frustration.

"Says the girl who sneaked onto the ship." Ranulf chastised as he sat on a barrel, throwing an apple into the air before grabbing it and taking one or two bites off it. "I'm eating fruit and you don't see ME complaining." Since beast Laguz ARE carnivores, the cats had had some difficulty on adapting, but in the end they were still similar to beorc, they just needed to start getting used to the taste.

"But…" Lyre whined.

"Want to train? It'll make time go faster." Her sister asked as she looked, no, glared holes in her shoulder. She was really just asking for a reason to beat her up for sneaking onboard, ignoring protocol. Yes. Two months later, Lethe held to the grudge.

"N-no! I'm perfectly fine!" Lyre exclaimed, running up to the barrel, grabbing an apple and trying to do like Ranulf, only to not be able to take the taste and having to spit the apple… all over Lethe.

"But you won't be." Lethe simply said, grabbing Lyre by the ear and pulling her to one of the "training areas" they had set up. By freezing the water on each side of the ship, they had created two ten meter ice platforms to allow for battle training of the ones on the ship. Celes, being a distinguished Ice mage, knew an attrition spell for the ice so it was much like normal ground. Convenience! Lethe first went to the one to starboard, but unsurprisingly, it was already taken up. By Ike no less. He and that girl Lethe couldn't decide if to call a branded or a Laguz were trading blows on the center of the arena, the sheer impact of the Ragnell hitting Terra's claws causing the ice block to severely crack and a small crater to open beneath their feet. _"Those two are monsters…"_ Lethe left unsaid, seeing a beorc casually walking past her and clapping to claim their attention.

"It's been over a minute! Break it up!" Shinryu exclaimed, the two person's in question looking at him, Ike with a conformist look while Terra shot him a glare.

"I feel fine!" She growled, immediately covering her mouth when she heard her own voice do so.

"I reckon I don't have to counter-argument that." Shin told her. Terra looked at her hands and noticed how the aura was reddening and immediately shut down her trance, returning to her blue dress. "One minute and twenty seven seconds. That's more like it!" He congratulated, playfully rubbing her head.

"GET A ROOM!" Boyd exclaimed from side of the ship.

"You jelly?" Rolf teased, turning his back and running away as he knew what's coming.

"Come back here this instant!" Boyd shouted, chasing his brother through the deck.

"Well, I'm not finished yet, anyone wants to have a go?" Ike questioned. Lethe saw this as a chance to punish Lyre but alas, she had vanished. "Al, care to try? Your fight style is… weird."

"Alright! Let me just get my Dragonstone!" The blue haired lord answered, leading Lethe to give up the prospect of training altogether. Well, it's not like everyone hadn't worked their butts off this voyage, so she was satisfied. Still, just checking if she had no real place, she headed to starboard and, just as she expected, it was taken. It didn't seem like it, you could only vaguely see the blurs of the ones training on it, the ice seemingly being slashed by nothingness, only after a few seconds did the Trueblades and the Blade Lord clash in the center, for once meeting the sight of us mere mortals. Yet again though, no cigar for any her training. Then there even was aerial training… more like Tibarn and Naesala taking their frustrations onto each other and occasionally sparring with Elincia. Yeah, Tibarn didn't like Naesala's advances on Leanne and Naesala didn't exactly take kindly to Tibarn telling him off. Sometimes, even Lethe thought they'd end up killing each other. Then there was the thing that, by far, unnerved her the most. Cuore. She was not, by any chance or form, a five year old as they thought she was. She was a far call from either Beorc or Laguz also. Why do you ask? What Lethe was looking at was, indeed, a girl which seemed to be no less than ten years old now, staring right at her.

"Do Laguz have distinct smells only another Laguz can smell? As an identity code of sorts." And she did this. Lethe groaned, remembering how she was deemed the prime candidate to speak for the Laguz, she and Nasir really, by none other than that child. Her thirst for knowledge seemed to have no bounds and even worse… she grew so fast. She had grown what would be four years' time in two months. Approximately at least. It unnerved Lethe. Hell, it unnerved most on the ship, just the rare and obligatory exception. Ike. Terra didn't seem distressed but frankly, she unnerved Lethe too. That beorc that somehow had grown attached to her also. Something told her that most beorcs were not what they seemed where they were going. Take the monkey wannabe Laguz. Lethe had scorned him… a lot. But he kept coming and, yes, he had shown her how he himself had a secret, the thing was… "Is it an impertinent question?" Cuore asked since Lethe had spaced out.

"No, it is not young one. Laguz can distinguish the specific scent of anyone they wish. Much like you do with their magic." Lethe answered her, who whipped her head to the sides.

"I don't smell magic!" She also alternated from a robotic-like nature to a childish tone as you could obviously see. "It's like music to my ears! Everyone has a different tune, I just listen closely and I can distinguish everyone's sonata!" Lethe stared at her like she had seen a ghost.

"I see…" She mumbled, taken aback by the explanation. Being around Soren, a branded, a COLD branded, was soooo much easier than being around this… girl.

"Cuore! Don't be rude!" Rydia shouted, running up to the girl she was semi-forced to care as a mother. "I'm so sorry Lethe… She just loves asking you stuff, she says you're the best Laguz to hang out with."

"_Can't say the feeling is mutual…"_ Lethe thought but said otherwise. "I'm glad she feels that way. Such a peculiar girl is a great way to pass this… actually quite boring travel." There, she'd said it. It was boring. Even Workaholic herself had decreed it. The trip had to end! Lucky for us, it was going to. As Lethe finished her conversation, her ears picked up the unholy sound the object Bartz owned did. He ringing drove her and her sister INSANE. There had to be disadvantage to being a catgirl, hadn't it?

"Squall! WAZAAAAAAAAH!" Aaaaaand Lethe suddenly wanted the phone to be kept ringing.

"Why am I friends with you again…?" A tired and substantially more mature voice asked from the other side of the devil's contraption.

"Well… because: One…" Lethe was ONE second away from jumping in and ripping that guy's damned throat out, but the voice shut him up just in time.

"Don't you dare enumerate the reasons. You did it one time too many." It ordered. Pouted did the Mime as he answered:

"But I only did it once!" And the voice confirmed so:

"Exactly my point." Bartz shook his head and gave the phone the most indignant look he could, even if the image calling wasn't turned on. Still, he got better.

"Fine, what is it? You left me hanging for what? Two months!" Bartz exclaimed, back to his normal self. He knew exactly who this was. Squall Leonhart, his "contact" in the Returners.

"I need you to stop at Babilonia Port. Dalmasca is not a safe option anymore." Squall informed from the other side of the line. "The Empire has been establishing checkpoints to all of the ports in their possession. Babilonia will be inspected and have a regiment stationed there in just one day. Can you make it before they set things up?"

"Yeah, I think we can." Zidane told Squall and Bartz from behind as he held up some kind of object that projected the boat and their surroundings on a much larger scale.

"Good. This army delay your arrival by a month, but we need you to be safe." Squall explained but was interrupted.

"Squall is it? Military leader of the Returners?" Edge asked, snatching the phone from Bartz.

"Yeah, and you are?" The person from the other side questioned.

"Edward Geraldine of Eblan." Edge answered in a rare serious tone.

"Prince Edward?" Squall questioned, his voice turning just a smidge less sharp and more respectful.

"Exactly. I'm going to give them passage through Eblan. I figured that since we turned, we'd better go all the way. I should be able to find some recruits for you in the castle and we should save weeks off climbing mountains with our tunnels. I'd say the month can be cut to a time as short as three days, four to stop in Eblan." That was music to anyone's ears. One month of going around a mountain wasn't exactly appealing.

"If you are willing to do so, far from me to turn down such generous offer." Squall trying to sound proper just didn't feel right, but he had to at least try.

"No biggie. I'm sure mom and dad will understand when I show them my kiiiiiiiiiid!" He exclaimed, touching up his voice with a somewhat ridiculous whimsical tone at the end, holding Cuore. Rydia could just sigh in disapproval. How DID such a logical being like Cuore get attached to EDGE of all people?

"Alright. However, I need you to ask around for information about the Empire on the town Bartz. Rumor is they disbanded the Lightbringer division. I did send someone to Babilonia Port so you might have that job already done for you, but just in case you don't meet Desert Hawk, I'd ask around." The disbanding of the Lightning division was logical so it didn't come to be a surprise of massive scale. Why call it as such with no Lightbringer? Yet, did they just loose a division or did they substitute it? And if they did… what could be a replacement for the Lightbringer? Even worse…

"Desert Hawk? You do know who we have onboard, don 't you?" Bartz pointed out, much to the confusion off everyone else.

"He will just have to stop being a child when you meet him. If he is there, I bet he will be waiting for you when you dock. If he's not, well, keep going. You cannot risk meeting the God General in charge of the checkpoints." Squall explained.

"THERE IS A GO- He hang up… HE FREAKING HANG UP!" Bartz exclaimed, near panic. "Nasir! Due east! Now!" He urged, going to the edge of the ship and calling everyone training. "We need to melt the ice! We're supposedly a merchant ship." Obviously, Mia wasn't happy with it, but the others understood and did so. Nasir then turned the ship east while Zidane checked his contraption.

"The GPS says Babilonia port is two hours away. We should arrive right after noon. A good meal and we should be ready to leave well before nightfall." The teen told everyone.

"Good. If all that we've been told is true, finding an enemy commander all alone in a hostile country is the worst case scenario for us. Now, we need cloaks. A quite a few to be exact. I doubt Terra and her companions are that well received, and that is leaving the Laguz out of the equation." Soren calculated.

"I guess we can just wear a turban and stick our tails inside our pants…" Ranulf said, crossing his arms and giving it some thought. "The dragons are fine but…"

"The true problem is the Bird Laguz." Soren pointed out. "Shall we get them to fly over the city?" That seemed to be a good idea from the tactician but…"

"Any and all unidentified flying objects near a city are promptly hunted down and questioned by Black Chocobo riders. It's too risky." Celes pointed out as she was one of the more accustomed to the methods the army had.

"But we can't really put a cloak around them. Their wings are…" Ranulf began before seeing Tibarn, Leanne and Naesala walk back into the deck, cloaked from head to feet and no bulging mass from behind their backs.

"Incredibly flexible." Tibarn completed for him. The Laguz just shrugged, he always questioned how bird Laguz dressed with those massive wings but it appeared that said question would, not only not be answered today, but the mystery had increased.

* * *

Two hours of waiting ensued, disguises from the recognizable faces being made, carefully distinguishing them to not seem they were all hiding something, just dressing according to their wishes. You'd be surprised how different Terra looked with loose, green hair and glasses for example. Soon, they laid sight on the port town. One could see why this had been one of the last towns. It was incredibly small. To the point where it was still under construction, men carrying over their shoulders the large chucks of wood to be cut. It seemed to lack that "mechanical" state that Ike had tried to explain to his compatriots, but that was just because the country's development was not that distinct from Crimea, except for… you'll see it later.

"So far so good…" Ike whispered as they docked. Nasir was talking to the man that came to check the ship, which was not a Palamecian, meaning that the checkpoint hadn't been established in time. After a quick banter only Nasir could pull off, the man left while truly believing they were a simple merchant ship that made a stop before heading to Dalmasca.

"Sucker." Shinon spat, getting clubbed in the head by Titania right after.

"Indeed he is." Some voice told them. They quickly scouted from the ship and found the person in question sitting on starboard, Volke already touching the neck with his knife. "And you do have an efficient guard… Telians." He took off his hood and covered Volke with the cape, but of course, the Assassin had already seen such a simple trick hundreds of times. The knife never left the man's neck. "Very efficient guard I see." The man remarked, s if mocking Volke. Well, everyone admitted he was either stupid or brave. That snark of confidence didn't help the brave argument, he just seemed full of himself… for the guys at least. The women had to resist the urge to find him dashing, to no avail. His light brown hair, bordering the blonde with sideburns complemented his embroidered olive best and leather trousers, all of the clothing adorned with classy attachments like his gold buckles, the rings on both hands and even earrings that didn't make him look queer.

*Cue: Stalwarts Unite*

"Brother. I should've guessed. "Mustadio said, turning his attention to Volke. "You can let him go Volke. Balthier is on our side."

"If he was, why would he sneak on us?" Shinon groaned, rasping at Balthier's attitude.

"It seems to me our companion is not proud of letting one such as me escape his sights. Do not worry my strangely colored hair archer, you are not the first, nor will you be the last." That tone, so high and mighty yet so mocking and to the ladies, so charming. If it weren't for Titania AND Gatrie grabbing both of his arms, no doubt would Shinon show him something he couldn't see coming… his fist to be exact.

"Are you here to guide us?" Elincia asked, more to change the subject than to gain information. Now, she did not know the man, had she, she would've asked another man to do so. Immediately spinning while fluidly taking her right hand, Balthier knelt and kissed it gently.

"How would I say no to someone as grand as you Milady?" He complimented with his silver tongue. Now, any woman would've instantly fallen to her knees when his hazel eyes stared at Elincia's but well, as we all know, she's whipped.

"I'll take that as a yes." She said… dryly. That surprised everyone who knew her. Since when was Elincia dry? Yet, Balthier was not easy to peel off.

"Oh, don't be like that my dear. I understand you may have many pretenders, but if you could give me a cha-"And now he had a hulking bird-man in-between them.

"Give it up boy. Charlatans like you can't fool this girl." Tibarn told him, also warning him of consequences to come if he were to pursue this route.

"Pardon me, I should have guessed such a fair lady would have already found a man. However, your manners leave much to be desired for such a specimen." Balthier bantered on, possibly only to spite Tibarn even more.

"Nice try, but I'm just saving you from a much worse fate. Trust me, the last thing you'd want to do is flirt with Elincia." He was actually being serious there, even if he didn't like the guy. Yet, again, didn't work as planned.

"Well, I should have guessed you would have quite a bit of difficulty in finding a lady." This time, it was Ike who needed to grab Tibarn from behind.

"I'll rip his eyes out!" Tibarn roared, a small but audible cry of a hawk leaving his mouth.

"Calm down Tibarn! You're playing his game!" Even Ike knew it. The tone the man used was so daring and downright offensive it was like shooting arrows. And he seemed overjoyed seeing this.

"Balthier, trust me, don't get Tibarn angry!" Vaan exclaimed as he pulled Balthier back.

"I trust I can take care of myself, I am a pirate after all. One of the sky variant." He dismissed.

"We're Fran? I don't think I can stand being near the guy while he doesn't have the voice of reason with him for much longer…" Agrias groaned.

"Oh Fran? She was left with the Strahl. Should be walking around Rabanastre right about now." Balthier's expression fell if ever so slightly. "Well, we've had our fun. Let's get to a tavern, eat up and leave. I've arranged a hovercraft with supplies by five P.M. which gives us…" Taking a circular object and taking off the lid, the man stared at the pointers on the compass-like object and said. "Three hours is more than enough. Follow me and bring the mounts with you. Don't worry, no one dares to steal here, one complaint and its right to the gallows with them." And he commenced to walk.

"So THAT'S why he's so grumpy." Vaan nodded knowingly.

"What?" Mustadio questioned.

"The things you missed on when your brother joined the Returners…" Vaan simply said, leaving Mustadio to wonder just what the hell had finally gotten inside his brother's skin.

* * *

They followed Balthier to a modest tavern on the town square, going in separate groups of no more than four to avoid attention. They stationed Erza, Robin, Elena Gwydion and Stardust near the entrance and entered, again, eating separately. Tibarn however, had other ideas. After a very quick fix, he sat and asked the bartender to come to me.

"I need a mug of your strongest ale here." He asked, the bartender nodding.

"Make it two!" A strong, raspy voice demanded. The bartender looked back and froze at the sight of the man. Still, he did as he asked, on the double really, going back and getting them their beer in a minute flat. After another minute of silence with Tibarn looking at the mug, the mysterious man broke the silence. "So… what's the occasion?" Tibarn shot him a look. He had to admit, the man was almost as manly as him, at least in his eyes. Rough, scared face, pitch-black unkempt wild hair, no upper torso clothing whatsoever with a tri-edged tattoo and most importantly, the bandanna. A TRUE man has to have a bandana. "Don't mind me. I just get drunk whenever I get the chance. Pity I resist this stuff so easily…" He continued, drinking the entire mug in one shot. Tibarn, not wanting to be outdone, did the same. "So you CAN chug!"

"Of course." Tibarn replied. "But the reason I'm here is I just realized something. I am one hu- I mean, on my late thirties and I've never, even once, how do I say this…" Tibarn wondered, it was not something he was proud of remembering.

"Got laid?" Well, that was a direct and T-rating defying way to say it. But for this man, for this man it was normal.

"That." And he cursed Balthier yet again for remembering him. The man laughed, bellowed really.

"You're just like me man. Not that I didn't get some, I got a kid after all, but we're both tough on everything but that." Another mug came and another mug went in a flash.

"Well, thing is, the only people I get attracted to already have someone in mind…" And down went another mug. Tibarn's gleaming chugging potential seemed an equal match for the man. "Damn that raven…" He cursed.

"If that's your so-called problem, listen to mine." The man replied as if this was a contest. "My wife died when my boy was just five. My job takes up most of my time and lo and behold, he began blaming me for everything and ran away from home. He's out to kill me now." He finished, sipping on the mug.

"That's pretty harsh…" Tibarn replied, doing the same.

"Well, at least we still look badass. We take it like men and move on, right?" He asked, raising yet another mug for a cheer.

"Take it like men and move on!" Tibarn cheered, the duo taking down another mug and slamming the table.

"ANOTHER!" They both roared, now catching the attention of everyone on the tavern.

"Vaan… what is one of your guys doing sharing drinks with a God General?" Balthier asked, trying to not seem shocked.

"By the love of the Occuria…" Vaan stated, not knowing how to respond.

"You know what would make all of this that much better?" The God General asked, now a bit tipsy.

"A freaking fight!" Tibarn didn't know how, but he did it, he read his mind.

"Alright! We're in synch. No swords, daggers or SHIT like that! FISTFIGHT!" He exclaimed, breaking the table with his fist. The residents didn't know what to see as more surprising. The fact someone had just broken a table with his bare hands or how casual Tibarn treated that.

"You don't have any idea what you're getting in to!" Tibarn exclaimed. Oh… the irony.

"Hey you two, take it outside." A woman clad in black armor said from a nearby table. Everyone gasped and stared at her, shocked she had the proverbial balls to tell the two hulking beasts of a man that were about to cause havoc.

"Oh, and now you think you can order ME around?" The God General questioned, slamming the table.

"Exactly. Times have changed "Ace"." The woman spat, standing up to be eye to eye with the general. "My division has priority over yours you hooligan." They stared at each other for a moment, a fight about to break out… or was it?

"Pft, fine, it'll be better and all. But you know Hrist, don't think you can stand in Orlandeu's shadow for much longer..." The man spat at her, adding: "Bitch…" Under his breath while he walked to the outside, Tibarn and well, most of the people on the tavern doing the same. Our heroes because they wanted to see Tibarn escape this with his life, the rest just wanted to see the show.

"The report shall be disastrous… Bartender, two mugs!" The woman named Hrist ordered, leaving the money on the table as she left with the beverages.

* * *

"So… why don't we get started?!" Tibarn exclaimed, rotating his shoulders, being careful not to lift the cloak enough for the wings to show. As one could imagine, two badasses of this caliber attracted a lot of people and a circle around one of their members fighting a God General wasn't the best way to stealth.

"Just one thing. Names. I want to remember you if you don't suck and well, it's gonna be hard for me to ask you after I'm through with you!" The man taunted.

"Tibarn! And you? I doubt you'll be even be able to talk after this!" He taunted back. The man bellowed.

"You really don't know?!" He roared, slamming his right foot on the ground. "God General of the Apocalypse division! Jecht Ace!" He exclaimed. "Having second thoughts?!" He asked Tibarn, seeing only a smile as a response.

"On the contrary… God General? That just makes me all the more pumped up! Come one, let me see how high the standard for one is!" Tibarn bellowed as he lunged at him, his right fist flying into the man's rugged face. It connected and he was surprised to see Jecht being pushed back while his feet didn't fail, scrapping the ground in two lines.

"That was… pretty good actually! I may have my fun here! But can you take a hit?!" Jecht exclaimed, the earth trembling when he slammed his right foot on the ground for extra power behind his right-handed fist. As if to mock him, Tibarn let himself get hit, going back the same distance Jecht had gone.

"Good enough for ya?" He joked, whipping the side of his cheek in case there was blood.

"Oh yeah! Let's get to business!" Jecht shouted as they both dashed at the same time, their right fists colliding in midair. Tibarn grinned and quickly uppercut the man with his left fist, but he found him only slightly flinching, his lips forming a smile as he kneed Tibarn with all his power, taking out the air of the King's lungs. Tibarn still didn't let himself go down that easily and, even if he had instinctively hunched to come with the pain, he made the most of it by tackling Jecht into the cold hard floor. Now on top of him, Tibarn unleashed a series of punches on the man's head, but only half of them, if that many, connected.

"Sorry, but I don't like having guys on top of me!" Jecht shouted, easily throwing Tibarn away, who spun in midair, thanking the fact he had tied the cloak to his back so that his wings wouldn't show. He landed on one knee and Jecht jumped back to his feet. The battle was far from over.

They clashed in the middle of the circle, punching the right side of their face at the exact same time, one could swear he felt a shockwave coming from it.

"How is Tibarn keeping up? Aren't Laguz weaker by default?" Mist questioned, only to have Ike step in.

"Laguz's bodies are as strong as or even stronger than hours. Difference is, we wield weapons. Technically, a "monk" as they call them here, would be stronger by default, but all of the God Generals use weapons." Ike explained, to which Balthier nodded.

"You are not as hard in-between the shoulders as I thought. Yes, Jecht uses the Apocalypse but still incorporates physical contact on his training. They are both only slightly of their environment because of that." Balthier explained as Jecht and Tibarn headbutted each other with such force the vibration reached the people around them. Almost no single woman was still conscious, the sheer manliness had incapacitated them.

They continued exchanging punches for what was about ten minutes before any of them showed ANY signs of wear and tear. And it was only a very slight change in their respiration.

"So… getting tired yet?" Tibarn asked, quickly whipping the sweat that bypassed the bandana from is eyes.

"Hell no! Why? Need a break?" Jecht taunted, even though he was in the exact same worn out state.

"You wish!" Tibarn shouted, the two men preparing themselves for "round two" before a shrill cry crossed the air. Tibarn and Jecht looked to the side to see how Terra was on her knees to grab her glasses, a woman staring at her shocked.

"T-th-the monster!" She gasped, alerting a lot of people to promptly look at Terra from more directions Shinryu and Celes could cover.

"It does seem like her…"

"You whore, changing your hair-dye won't save you!" A fisherman exclaimed, pulling out a knife.

"You'll pay for everyone you slaughtered!"

"We'll feed your remains to the dogs and hope they don't get sick!"

The entire village seemed to have caught on at the exact same time, leaving the group to make a difficult choice.

"This is getting too similar to Port Toha!" Ranulf exclaimed, remembering how he was beaten up by the villagers in the Mad King's war. However, this time, this wasn't going to be something so frivolous. No, the villagers were bloodthirsty, you could see it in their eyes how much they hated Terra, Leanne herself was feeling sick. Everyone began to prepare to blow their cover to save her when an unlikely voice resounded.

"What the HELL is going on here?!" Jecht boomed, any and all noise stopping immediately. "And it better be good because fights like this are one in a thousand!" The God General roared yet again, the entirety of the crowd now beginning to look at each other, trying to find a scapegoat.

"S-sir Jecht! This… thing." There were suddenly a lot of people with a sudden urge to rip that guy's vocal cords out when he uttered such disrespectful words to Terra, but they knew better. "It's Terra Branford! The Monster! The traitor!" The townspeople nodded resolutely to make their point.

"This chick?!" Jecht asked, staring at Terra and walking towards the kneeling girl. Everyone's sense heightened, but dropped when Ike saw Tibarn shake his head. Jecht kneeled and… began pinching her cheek… playfully. He gave her a warm smile, a very brief one, not many caught on to that, before looking at his hand inquisitively. "S'not her. Her cheeks aren't the same. I know, I've pinched her cheeks for five years!" That had to be the lamest… most disappointingly weak… and especially the most ridiculous excuse me as a narrator had to narrate. "This chick is a cutie, but she ain't no Branford. IF she were, she'd have thorn every one of you to piece, wouldn't she?" It wasn't as much people believing in Jecht as it was they being AFRAID to speak their minds to him. "I've known her for five years and while this one..:" He gestured to Terra. "Is a work of art, she's just a doppelganger. In short, you made me lose my mojo for nothing… If I EVER know you spoke about what happened here today, especially my fight, which if didn't guess it, isn't very well seen by the rules, I'll come here and pay some debts, understood? Now fucking apologize to the girl for trying to beat her up and go fish or some shit like that!" The most ridiculous part of this entire exchange? The shout at the end of it was so frightful that the entire village felt the need to apologize.

"Well, that's that huh? We're leaving now, but don't worry. I'll find you and beat you up soon!" Tibarn assure Jecht, who had turned his back and began walking into a street.

"And next time… we'll go all out, don't you think birdie?" He finished, Tibarn's jaw opening for a split second. He had known all along…

"You are despicable." Hrist insulted, walking besides Jecht.

"Yeah. You aren't going to write on your report you let Terra escape, now are you? And you aren't going to try and do it alone either. I think it would be better for everyone if this "encounter" was just forgotten, Miss "By-the-book." Wouldn't want to destroy that rep, would you?" Jecht sneered, enjoying every moment of Hrist's discomfort.

"_He is correct__… if I report how Terra escaped my grasp, I can forget __my race with__ my sister to promotion…"_ The dark clad woman told herself, closing her eyes and deciding it would be best to do as Jecht had said… and remember to repay this to him in the most painful way possible. And yes, given the chance, she would kill him, she just needed an excuse… and power to do it.

* * *

After having to assure the townsfolk there was no harm done, the group followed Balthier to the outside of said town, meeting up with the person that "borrowed" the Hovercraft. By the tone he had used, it was quite obvious what had REALLY happened. Sure enough, when they arrive at the drop point, there it was, the contraption.

"Are we to ride on a steel machination like this?" Shinon asked, clearly in disbelief.

"Well, if you want to try your luck with the bog around the Babilonian mountains, be my guest." Oh, how Shinon wanted to put an arrow or three in-between Balthier's eyes! Yet again though, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to the side to see Titania making a decapitation sign with her thumb. Shinon groaned and pulled his shoulder from her grasp jumping onto the large back of the craft before even meeting the driver.

"So… who stole it?" Celes asked, not falling for Balthier's guise.

"I prefer the term found. I mean, it was just lying there with the keys on and all. A treasure if you will." Ike's jaw dropped.

"Mist… is Celes SMILLING?!" He asked his younger sister, who seemed to be as flabbergasted. Save for the lone smile at the end of the battle, never had Celes smiled in front of well, anyone, and there she was, a broad smile gracing her cheeks. Before he could ask though, Celes tried to conceal it with the least believable grimace he had ever seen as the object of her smile jumped off the wagon. He was, as everyone from the Returners, wearing strange clothing. He was a brown haired man of medium height, brown eyes somewhat muscular stature. The one you get from doing physical activity but not by lifting weights. He wore a dark blue jacket that opened to reveal a light blue shirt, had trousers matching the jacket and finally, his trademark probably, his dark bandana that covered most of his hair.

*Cue: "With us!*

"Locke Cole… And I had thought you'd given up on stea-" She was immediately silenced by the same man, who had lunged and… planted his lips on hers.

"How did he even…" Rolf asked no one in particular, pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Balls kid. That guy has got some BALLS!" Gatrie told him. Worse yet, Celes hadn't bothered to pull away. This was just unreal for people who had known the "Ice Queen" for little more than two months. The only ones not completely swept of their feet were their closest friends, as it was to be expected. After a few more moment though, Celes did pull away, but not before the man grabbed her in a tight hug.

"I've been saving that for two years. You've been a hard one to visit!" He told the still stunned woman. One could tell she didn't expect someone to have the guts to do that to her.

"I know Locke but… will you let go of me?" She asked the man, who shook his head fiercely.

"Heck no! I know what I did, you're going to kill me if I let you go!" And then the entire group realized that the man had known exactly what he was bringing upon himself. Celes was still Celes after all.

"Even if I were… would you purposely hold me forever then?" There was something inherently wrong with seeing Celes flirt but it was also extremely amusing.

"Well, I've heard of worse fates." Locke answered seductively as he leaned in for "seconds". Before this turned into a chapter 9 though, Vaan sacrificed himself for the crew.

"Hum, if I may." He interrupted. Now getting the couple's full attention. "There is a hill over there. We can give you ten minutes to go there and "do your stuff" and we leave. Just leave your sexual tension back there, okay?" One could only wonder. Was he THAT stupid, or did he do he take one for the team?

"Locke… you may let me go." She told the red man, who, in light of her dark, foreboding tone, did so.

"Hum Celes?" Vaan questioned. "Celes… what are you doing?! CELES, STOP! CELEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!"

And he was never heard from again… okay, he was, but he did not leave unscathed.

* * *

"Sooo… Squall told me things had changed on the Empire." Bartz told Balthier. The group had grown silent while they mourned for their fallen companion and after explaining to them what a Hovercraft actually WAS, they simply got in, no questions asked. After fifteen minutes of ridding they had reached the bog. Edge was at the front, giving Vaan directions while making the party promise they would take them to the grave. Considering how he was a ninja and they had learned said job was very much like Volke's during the trip here, not even Telians had a problem with that.

"Yeah. The lot of you managed to cause quite the storm." Balthier began. "Since the Lightbringer was stolen, there was no reason for the division to exist. That means it had to be replaced…"

"You can't just replace a division. They were named and made around the wielder of the respective legendary weapon." Shinryu intervened, to which Balthier shook his head.

"What if I told you they found a new one to name it after?" He asked.

"How did…"

"A mere month ago, a man appeared on Palamecia's capital. He simply barged in, killing any guard that would stand in-between him and his objective. Said man proposed a duel to Orlandeu." Ramza gasped. That was a fool's trap if they wanted glory quickly. Challenging Orlandeu never ended in less than utter humiliation. "Needless to say, Orlandeu won. But it took him more than anyone else did, the fight lasting for over fifteen minutes and even at one point, the man knocked Orlandeu down." This time was the time for Ike to cringe in both surprise an horror.

"There are more monsters like him around…" He cringed at it.

"Yes. And that is not all. His blade, which can morph between sword, axe, lance and whip, the Gaia Cleaver, gives him the upper hand on any battle. He is now God General after only a month of service. The Battle Crazed Knight, Garland." Everyone took a moment of silence. For a knight to appear out of nowhere, carrying with him such power and weapon, were the gods really betting against them?

"What about the other ones? We heard nothing about the rest of the God Generals." Elincia asked. It may have been a very grave oversight on their part but they had still time to correct it, didn't they?

"And a good thing it was. Only half are the very same." Balthier explained. "I do not need to tell you how they look as of now, I do believe we have accurate pictures of them on Dalmasca, yet, their names would be good, in case you get into a mindless fight like some…" Balthier spat, Tibar shooting him a "Bite me" stare. "The Omega Weapon division, the Valkyrie, Lightning Farron. The Apocalypse division, the King of Havoc, Jecht Ace. I do believe you've met. The Ultima Weapon division… formerly lead by The Hero, Zack Fair is now lead by none other than another you've met. The Earth's Descendant, Aerith Gainsborough. Which is ironic really, as she does not even use said weapon. One would ask themselves if the division should be named after her right hand's weapon." That hardly concerned anyone in there, Micaiah however, finally understood why she was being decimated on the battlefield. She was fighting no ordinary mage… "The Chaos Blade division, the Judge Magister, Gabranth. The Masamune division… Sephiroth Shinra. He vanished after his defeat, yet, the Empire did not take his leadership so I doubt he is dead."

"Well, at least we know we have a chance against one of them." Ike said to bolster morale. On the inside he knew. _"That guy must be cooking something up. He's got to have one hell of a grudge against me…"_

"True, true. As you know, the Battle Crazed Knight Garland commands the Gaia Cleaver division. But the last one may be a shocker." Balthier whispered.

"Why is that? The Excalibur division, led by Orlandeu, right?" Celes pointed out from the front of the craft.

"The Excalibur division… is no longer part of the Seven." Silence. No one expected that.

"D-did something happen to Orlandeu?" Agrias gasped, not believing the man could have been defeated.

"I wish so. The Excalibur division now serves as the leader for the other divisions." Balthier explained, and it did make sense.

"So that's what Jecht was talking about." Tibarn mused. Balthier nodded.

"The new division that is going to substitute the Excalibur division in the Seven is the Gae Bolg division. We have little to no knowledge about this division as it was only announced four days ago. We know two things only. The Gae Bolg is a spear and its God General… The White Raven. Nothing more, albeit, the man dueled Orlandeu to a standoff. Neither had the advantage." Things just kept getting crappier and crappier.

"So, you're telling me we have to deal with TWO Orlandeus?" Zidane whined, receiving a nod in return.

"Worse even, from what I can tell and was reported, none of you have comparable jobs to him." Locke told from behind the wheel.

"Jobs?" Ike questioned.

"Classes. You follow a class system do you not? Same thing really. Just that, if we were to apply your concept of tiers… Fantasia, this continent, would have at the very least five. Five Fourth Tiers. And that is leaving Garland on the doubt." Locke finished.

"What?! Is that even possible?!" Ike blared, to which Balthier answered:

"Orlandeu stopped your sword with one finger. Do you realize how much of a gap there is between you?" He questioned. Ike didn't want to believe it but he had already entertained the notion of Orlandeu actually being something higher than what he believed to be the pinnacle of human beings. Hell, he had beaten a goddess with this power, and now they say all of what he was was not even on the same level as not one but FIVE other people?

"Why five?" Elincia questioned.

"Each country has one has of right now. Ivalice, Alexandria, Esthar, Baron and the Empire… Except ours… If the White Raven dueled Orlandeu to a standoff, the first man to reach said unconceivable power, well, it's a given. Why do you think we tried nothing against Ivalice or Alexandria yet? The Returners have set base in Esthar, our army is as good as the other nations as a whole. We should be invading Ivalice. Yet… they have General Frimelda Lotice. She alone tips the scales far to their side." Balthier made a visible grimace when he said that name.

"How, ONE person can't change so much!" Micaiah protested.

"You're one to talk." Soren spat dryly. "There are multiple factors to take in account before saying that. Maybe they have special powers. Micaiah, you and your future sight. Don't tell me you didn't change the course of the war all by yourself." Micaiah pursed her lips and looked down, admitting her defeat. "Maybe they have stellar commanding skills and can bolster morale. Ike is a prime example of that." Ike nodded. "Maybe they are so strong that they can take on most of the army by themselves." Ike remembered the Black Knight.

"Like Murdock did." Tiena said, remembering how General Murdock singe-handedly stopped Roy's advance before falling to the young lord.

"And even worse… maybe all three of them." Soren finished. Something told everyone that, for how desperate the Returners were, it was the last option.

"So. We're your way to tip the scales?" Sothe asked.

"Pretty much. Our only hope to do it at least." Locke admitted in a less optimistic tone. "We're here!" He exclaimed to break the atmosphere that was settling in.

"Yes. This is right where it is. The Eblanian caverns." Edge confirmed. "Hop on out guys!" He exclaimed, calling everyone to see the entrance to Eblan. No one would guess it was what it was. It was just a simple opening in the mountain on the east side of the swamp. Of course, being stealthy AND the fact you'd need a Hovercraft to reach it, was perfect for a Ninja nation, but still, the royalty expected some… guards. But no, nothing.

"It's not exactly… impressive." Bartz pointed out, surprisingly not getting the evil eye, but a chuckle.

"Thank you. It's not supposed to. Would you ever guess this was the only entrance to Eblan?" Bartz had to face palm for not getting the reason, the rest just shaking their head, following Edge to the cave.

* * *

Back in Crimea.

It was nighttime and Geoffrey sat on the throne Elincia always set, right hand covering half of his face, drowning in his thoughts.

"How can this be… the people accepted Elincia's leave so easily… they congratulated her. They can't possibly want that ignorant for a king." Geoffrey spat to no one in particular. There would be no one wandering the halls for hours to come. The knight had been absolutely livid for the past two months, not talking to anyone for more than a few moments to conceal it. He feared Lucia had noticed but if she did, she made no move to stop it. "He'll tear this country to pieces! He does not know how to rule it! Why can't she see it… why can't she see ME?!" Lightning crashed on the outside. Geoffrey found it strange, as the night had been calm until now, but what made his skin really crawl was the haunting melody that began rusting on his hear drums. And then, a voice, It was sad, like a mother who had just lost her son. He could barely distinguish it.

To all of my children… in whom life flows abundant

To all of my children… to whom death hath passed his judgment

Geoffrey's body seemed to move on his own, slowly approaching the window. There it was, sitting on it, a woman clad with only the essential to block her womanly parts. The rest of the skin was bare. Long, dark silvery strand falling down her neck, a red mark on her forehead. Her eyes crimson. What made Geoffrey question if it was even human was how two snake-like extensions extended from the back. Ones that MOVED. Even worse. The voice. It didn't come from her. It came from all around him, as if it was part of the air. However, Geoffrey caught sight of something far more sinister. Besides the moon was… a smaller one. Died in pure red.

The soul yearns for honour, and the flesh the hereafter

Look to those who walked before to lead those who walk after…

"Our Master…" The creature whispered, her voice seductive and powerful. "May help you."

Geoffrey jerked his shoulder at the shift of weight in it. Turns out, a bird had landed on Geoffrey's shoulder. A white raven.

Tell us why… given life

We are meant to die?

* * *

Two days of walking. That's what they had to put up with. The caverns were obviously changed by man as stone stairways, doors and even an Inn littered the cave. There was just one thing that stroke everyone as odd. Even for a small nation, if this was one of the only two entrances… how was nobody passing by?

"I've got an awful feeling about this… how can there be no one at the Inn?" Edge asked, looking around to see how the beds were in perfect shape and the Inn was clean. "This isn't abandoned. Someone was here recently. No sign of struggle also." He turned to the group, worry clearly plastered on his expression. "Would you mind…"

"We don't have to sleep Edge. We're fine." Rydia assured, looking back to have the others concur. "Let's find out what happened." She touched his shoulder and gave him a warm smile.

"Interesting. The heart beat ratio is skyrocketing." Cuore pointed out, of course turning both ends into a red mass. "And now the cheeks have a great concentration of blood… may I ask why this is happening?"

"Poor… pure girl." Balthier admonished.

"I do not understand." Cuore said dryly, trying to understand what she had done to make her parents so uncomfortable.

"You will when you're older…" Mist simply said, patting her on back. Avoiding any questions, especially since everyone felt exactly what Edge felt, they hurried to the exit. After more or less six hours of non-stop walking, they saw natural light on the horizon, the moon illuminating the dark caverns.

"We're almost there…" Edge said, increasing his pace.

"Wait…" Terra pleaded. She stood there, her nose moving intensely, as if she was smelling something. She closed her eyes and transformed for a few seconds, returning to her normal form moments after. The beast Laguz, alerted, had done the same, and both her and the three cats sported the same, worried look on their expressions.

"Smoke… burnt wood… fire." They all said in unison, as those were the smells that prevailed.

"No… NO!" Edge roared, sprinting towards the entrance at a pace no one in the group could follow except for Volke, who Ike ordered to. He was so fast. They were running for ten minutes straight before they arrived at the exit. And what they found was what they all wished with all their hearts not to be true.

They were in a large valley, a large valley that only had two man-made places. There had BEEN a town and castle where they were, but now it was nothing more than piles of burning wood and molten rock. Whatever had happened, they had just missed it.

"Where's Edge?!" Rydia desperately asked, the ninja in silver nowhere in sight.

They looked around and saw a ninja on the ground, wounds far beyond healing having been inflicted upon him. Mist and Rhys ran up to him but soon shook their heads.

"He's hanging by a thread. There is nothing anyone can do." The man's breath slowly began to fault as Rhys said so, blood streaming from his mouth.

"Wh-who are you people?" The man asked, yet again coughing blood.

"We're with Edge. Do you know where he is?" Ike answered, trying to make the man's last moments useful.

"Edge? I do not know any Edge." The man said, weakly lying. The was his eyes moved made Cuore point out how he was lying, to which Rydia leaned and asked the man:

"Please… tell us where Edward is. I know he must be doing something very stupid." The woman pleaded, looking into the man's hazed eyes. For a moment, his eyes jolted open and he asked:

"You…? How… Did he?" Before letting go a weak laughter. "Prince Edward should be fighting the monster that did this… at the courtyard. Please, girl of Mist… return the favor…" His last breaths were swift, but he died with a satisfied look on his face. Rydia swept her palm over the man's face, closing his eyes for a final time.

"We have to go help Edge!" She exclaimed , to her surprise though, Ike had already sped towards the courtyard at the end of the city. He ran and ran, noticing how the flames became greater the closer he was to his objective, he was sweating oh so much when he arrived at the blocked off castle gates. He was about to reach for his sword when the gates exploded. Looking at his side, he found out Rydia had managed to catch up to him in a chocobo Esper she had summoned. With a nod, they entered.

*Cue: Battle with the Four Fiends*

"I'll make you pay for what you did to Eblan!" Edge roared, thunder cackling around him. "Blitz!" He chanted as he gestured some strange signs, redirecting said lighting against the giant he was facing. The humanoid being just protected himself with his cloak-like clothing, not even flinching. The thing was about four meters high, sly more than twice as tall as Edge. He wore what appeared to be a full body cloak that covered everything but his left leg, hands and face. The cloak pure red with blue circles while it's skin was dark with fiery scar-like tissue on the leg. His cloak also seemed to be linked to his skin, furthering the belief that he wasn't human.

"You still try to resist? You cannot harm me!" The thing boomed, fire around him and Edge intensifying into a ring that locked Ike and Rydia out.

"Edge! Run away! That's an Esper, one of the Four Fiends no less!" Rydia shouted from outside the ring, knowing Edge could jump out if he wanted to. Ike walked backwards to gain momentum.

"I know! But I won't let him get away with what he did! Autarch of Flame or not, he… took my kingdom and burned it to ash. He mailed my men to come back to Eblan only to burn even those who stayed in Tellius. Everyone I know is DEAD! FLOOD!" Now he had summoned a massive wave of water... which was useless against the being's cape, vapor was the only thing left.

"I respect men like you. Men with… courage. But you are a slave to your emotions, and so you will never know true strength. Such is the curse of men." He taunted, even if he had complimented him in the same sentence.

"**RUBICANTE!**" Edge roared, vanishing and reappearing right on top of the Archfiend, only to have swat him aside like a fly, ending up slamming him against a nearby house, destroying the wall and knocking him out in the process.

"Live. Grow stronger. Do your parents proud." He told the now unconscious ninja before turning to Ike, Rydia and the ones that were arriving just now. "I've resorted to unforgivable tactics to achieve this victory today. For that, I shall now leave and let not a soul know of your arrival. Consider this an apology, as I cannot go against my summoner's orders, no matter how unjust they are. Goodbye rebels, may we meet again on an even battlefield!" And with that, before anyone could ask anymore of him, he was gone in a burst of flames.

"Edge!" Ignoring what had just happened, Rydia shot towards Edge like an arrow, Mist following her to heal him. "Edge!" She called, cradling the burnt mess of a man on her arms. He wasn't moving. "This is not funny Edge…" By now, Mist had arrived and was healing him with her staff. "Edward!" She cried, tears falling from her eyes into his. Just then though, movement. His chest started to move. He was breathing!

"I told you… that name is so lame…" Edge whispered with the remainder of his strength.

"Don't talk, I'm healing you, it'll be easier if you don't open the wounds I close." Mist advised him, earning a nod as the man shut his ever blabbering mouth. "He'll be alright." She shouted for the others to hear. Ike breathed out in relief. That was what he needed to hear. However though, this scenario was far too similar for his tastes. However, any and all thoughts drifted away when he was approached by an elderly man and several, but few, injured man.

"It is good to hear Prince Edward will be safe. I am Shen, the caretaker for the boy. He always calls me the Seneschal since, well, that's what I am. I'll have to thank you stranger… if it weren't for your arrival, I severely doubt we would have lived through Rubicante's onslaught." The elder thanked, even going as far as to do a small bow. Ike recognized the Four Winds behind him, a wave of comfort washing him. He was happy Edge still had friends left. Yet, all that comfort was replaced with guilt as he realized who the real culprits for the attack were.

"We don't deserve your thanks Shen… If it weren't for us, Eblan wouldn't have been attacked." He lowered his head in a sign of apology.

"I knew you'd say that young man. And my answer is: Don't be. Prince Edward's choice was the correct one. The one we never had the courage to take. The Mist Massacre was and forever more shall be the darkest stain in our countries' history. Mayhap some would hate you and Edward for this decision, but me, and his parents… Crystals bless their fallen souls… will never hold such against you. Now, if you'll excuse me, we shall go and tend to the wounded." Ike was surprised how the Seneschal held no ill will against him, but was even more disturbed at how Edge had just lost his parents. He reminded him too much of himself…

"Sir Ike…" Elincia called, touching his right shoulder. "Shouldn't we help?" Ike felt stupid. How could he have been so blind as to not offer his help to the ones in need?

"Yeah, of course! Shen, we'll help in putting out the fires and looking for the wounded!" Ike shouted.

"Much appreciated…" The Seneschal answered, a small, weak smile creeping onto his tired features. "Maybe… it was worth it after all." He muttered to himself, taking a look at the group which eagerly helped people they had no connections with.

* * *

Hours later, on a crevice at the east of the valley where the city was situated.

Edge sat on the only place where he could be away of it all. He couldn't smell the burnt wood, he couldn't hear the crying women and he especially couldn't hear the whispers that blamed him for everything.

"They're right though… my decision made this." He told himself, closing his eyes and feeling his body. He was completely thorn to bits before being healed. "What a monster… that Rubicante."

"You should be in a bed resting!" Rydia's voice caressed his ears so, even if it were an angry one. She was always angry at him, so he was used to it anyway.

"I'll be there in a minute…" He answered, hopelessly trying to tell her to go away.

"I'm sorry Edge…" She said after a deep, heavy silence. "This was all…"

"Mateus' fault. No one else's. I'll make him pay for what he did to Eblan and Mist." Edge didn't know where he was getting that confidence in his voice. He sure didn't have any.

"Thank you Edge…" She whispered, thoughts he noted he hadn't looked at her for a second. "Are you… crying?"

"I'm… not. I can't cry. What if someone sees me? They need their… King…" How that word hurt. "To be strong." As he finished the phrase, a couple of slender arms wrapped around his shoulders, Rydia's head leaning against his. His air suddenly became moist.

"I'll cry your tears then…" She whispered on his ears, silently sobbing on his shoulder.

"Thank you…" Edge simply said, caressing her hair with his right hand without meeting her eyes. He'd cry if he did, he was sure of it.

"Erratic and illogical behavior detected…" Cuore whispered mechanically behind a rock. "Is this what humans call "love"?"

And as always, the little girl was right.

* * *

_After such a devastating blow right at the start of their new journey, our heroes' resolves is tenfold as they march towards Ivalice. However, even in the country, the ones which would help them are thrown against the wall. And what happens when a former God General is sentenced to death, yet again?_

_"From now on, we're in completely hostile territory, and this time, guards are not scarce."_

_"Queen Ashelia, may I ask you what your TRUE intentions are?"_

_"Zack, you have a week to live."_

_Next Chapter: Ashe and Ashelia_

* * *

**Balthier Bunansa**

Sky Pirate, Level 14

**Locke Cole**

Whisper, Level 15

**Vaan Beoulve**

Sky Pirate, Level 9

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Well, you got yourselves a pretty varied chapter, don't you think? I don't have much to tell you as this was so massive I'd lose an entire paragraph talking about it. Anyway, you know I love those reviews so, any opinions, critiques, or much of anything is welcomed. See you next time.


	11. Ashe and Ashelia

******Author's note:** For those who don't know, Frimelda Lotice is an actual FF character. Not many people played FF Tactics A2 so I reckon I put that out there. If you want to see how she looks like, just Google her, it helps envisioning the story… that said, enjoy.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 2: The Leonhart Rebelion**

**Chapter Eleven**

******Ashe and Ashelia**

* * *

One day. One day was what Squall told them to stay in Eblan. He was grateful that Edge had somehow managed to maintain his people's trust, for the most part at least, the rest was bond by loyalty to the Geraldine Clan. Thus, he had essentially gotten the Returners about one hundred able ninjas… a far cry from the more than ten thousand shades the valley once took pride in having but a very good number no less. Still, they could hardly just lay and wait for Eblan to be rebuilt. Taking their essentials and moving was the only way out. This, of course, for a country of ninjas would take a couple of hours at best, but Squall had the heart to give them time to mourn. A rare case for him.

Either way, for once, we are following neither Ike nor anyone of his companions. No, now we find ourselves in Dalmasca's throne room situated in the capital city of Rabanastre. Truth being Ivalice was much like Lycia, divided in many semi-independent nations. The only difference being that there was one nation to rule them all, that being Dalmasca. However, you may understand just how stressed the relationships between nations may become during a forceful occupation, but what better way to know than to listen to the summit which, not coincidently, is happening right now? Our first person to talk was one with long, black hair and the most expensive vest money could buy, it was literally plated in gold.

"I for one welcome our new Empyreal overlords." Well, of course this man did. Vayne Solidor was the ruler of Archadia, the most military dependent of the five nations that constituted Ivalice and, considering how power hungry the Emperor was… Archades prospered.

"If by any chance you did not, I would be so ashamed of my talents at reading comrades I'd step down from my charge." Wearing a pair of glasses and in lady-killing attire sat the ruler of Rozzaria, Al-Cid was the ruler of the commercial haven that was Rozzaria. You could feel the bad blood that washed down generations between Archadia and Rozzaria, yet: "But I must agree if only partially Madame. I do not WELCOME the empire as the barbarian does, but I do believe that if we do not, we will be merely ants they will casually bury… much like that pitiful excuse for a resistance." He told the one presiding the summit, our Queen Ashelia B'nargin of Dalmasca, his tone still seductive. She wondered if it was automatic by now and he didn't know that he was subconsciously causing the swooning of every maid that, of course, listened at the door once they saw Al-Cid enter it. She knew for a fact no one could make out exactly what they were saying from the door, but the mere presence of his voice seemed to be enough to knock women out in a matter of seconds. At least the ones that weren't on the summit right now.

"Ivalice has been a proud nation for hundreds of years! We have boldly fought any and all opposing forces that sought to conquer us. When Baron went on its campaign, WE put an end to it before it even began. Branhe of Alexandria has been scurried from this land not once or twice but TRICE. Yet, why are we showing sympathy for the one invader whose intentions are nothing but pure evil?!" Speaking was a man just after his fifties, dressed in yellowish attire. His name? Marquis Halim Ondore IV, ruler of Bhujerba, uncle to our queen. He was, along with Ashelia, the only person who thoroughly opposed the aggregation with Palamecia. Once, three of the different rulers did so… yet Nabradia…

"Because we have to know our place. To fight will stain our nation in a sea of blood!" King Darius, king of Nabradia, Dalmasca's sister country, who was once the greatest supporter of the Queen.

"Better to die with honor than to live as pigs!" Ondore boomed, slamming the table with his fists. Never had he exalted himself in a summit, but this situation was disgraceful.

"My son died with honor! And what did that accomplish if I may ask of you, oh storyteller?!" Darius blared back, tears already welling up in his eyes. Then, a voice that had seldom spoke for more than a year now was heard.

"He was my fiancé. Do you see me wallowing in pain like a coward, dishonoring the way he died and all he stood for?" Ashelia spoke calmly, not once diverting her eyes from the ring she cradled in her hand.

"How dare you address King Darius like that, you insolent hag? His son traded his own life for yours!" The guard to the king blared. He was a knight by the name of Vossler, former aid of the King's son.

"You may ask your King if he finds it fitting to feed that sacrifice to the pigs." Ashelia replied, making the ring roll all across the table and into the hands of Darius. She then stood up and turned her back on the rulers. "I fostered no hope in this summit yet my Uncle believed you were only in shock. I never took you as a sniveling coward… Rasler was right, the crown IS wasted on you." This caused Vossler to reach for his blade, knocking the table down, to which none of the ones sitting but Vayne and Raminas even moved.

"Watch your tongue! Being the descendant of the Dynast King gives you no such power as to insult your peers! Now, apologize!" Vossler ordered the Queen, who simply scuffed and opened the double doors to the outside. "You shall not disrespect house Nabradia!" Vossler roared, dashing towards the Queen, not to kill but to hurt. Yet, he felt it. That sense of dread, as if there was a blade prodding his throat. He could swear he felt a small string of blood rushing down his neck, as if the blade was begging to enter his neck.

"Vossler…" He swiftly dropped his blade and looked to where the blade should be. Nothing, just one person staring at him from the corner of his eyesight. Wearing a green, leaf patterned vest whose neck and waist was tied by vines, brown trousers and boots, bronze shoulder pads and gloves and with almost caramel-like short hair that swept towards her chin, the woman everyone in Ivalice trembled at the mere name stared deep into his eyes with her emerald ones. "One must never raise his weapon to the ruler without proof of treason. As High General… I enforce that with fervor." Her hand just swept the handle of the crystalline blade she stored on the side of her hip, but Vossler got the memo instantly, bowing down and apologizing:

"My sincerest apologies High General Lotice…" He did what he had to do. At this time, Frimelda was way too important for their nation. That and she could rid him of anything above his shoulders with little to no effort.

"Well then, I assume the summit is... over, am I correct?" She asked, to which most nodded, just not Vayne.

"May I ask one final question?" He smugly questioned, knowing full well he could.

"Go right ahead." Ashelia spat at him, glaring him from the corner of her eye.

"Queen Ashelia, may I ask you what your TRUE intentions are?" The lord of Archadia asked, to which Ashelia did nothing but leave the summit, responding with:

"Mind your tongue lest I prod into your so-called "business"." She threatened, even though she knew… she knew that Vayne knew too much by now. Yet, she still left.

"You heard her Majesty… you may return to your rotten lands." Frimelda spat, walking over to King Darius and ripping Rasler's engagement ring from his hands. "I so wish you would've taken Prince Rasler's place. Maybe she would still be happy…" She sneered, turning her back and leaving the room. The rulers evaluated each other.

"Are we to stand by as a mere peasant insults us? Her father may have been the general but he was still a dirt blood and so she is." Of course, this had to be Vayne talking.

"Now now, I may agree that our bird may be flying too close to the sun… but let us not forget that we, as the sun, cannot burn her wings, lest we fall with her." Al-Cid replied, to which Ondore concurred.

"Al-Cid is correct Vayne. Imagine that you, in your rage would miraculously bring the shadow of death upon our High General… That would only spur the rebels to come and crush our forces. For now, she is the single most important piece on the chess we are playing. The Queen is a better piece than the King after all." The elderly man told the smug young one, who had no other option but to concede.

The general kept walking through the hallways of the Rabanastre Royal Palace, shrouded in her thoughts. She knew exactly just where Ashelia was but what worried her was the look she had given her during the summit. That wasn't Queen Ashelia's look, that was Ashe's look. She had to know just what rebellious plan had she concocted this time. The last one had shaken the kingdom quite a bit. She remembered it like it was yesterday… eleven years ago, when she was ten and Ashelia a mere eight.

* * *

A younger Frimelda, wearing nothing but rags ran through the alleyways of the slums in Rabanastre. Now, everyone knew that life in the slums could be rough, but she had it especially so.

"Come back here you demon!" Boys of at least five years of age older shouted as they pursued her. Yet, she was used to it by now. Leading them to what seemed to be a dead end, she took a sharp turn, giving her mere seconds before her pursuers caught up to her. She quickly removed the grid to the sewers, entering through the small hole, closing it behind her. Silent she remained. A silence that was rewarded when she heard the cries of frustration followed by the sound of searching, all of it quickly subsiding into heavy steps. Frimelda took a deep breath, relieved. She decided against returning to the surface and instead head back through the Garamsythe Waterway. Yet, she did not go far. After a few minutes of hopping over rivers of filth and sludge, she took a sharp turn to the right, colliding with something.

"Ouch!" Frimelda exclaimed as she fell to the ground.

"You can say that again." The person she had collided replied. Frimelda opened her eyes and was shocked when she saw a blonde girl, even younger than herself, picking herself up from the ground. Even worse, she was not wearing the kind of clothing a slum girl, even a city girl would wear. No, this girl was a noble… and a damn rich one by the amount of jewels on her chest.

"Sorry for hitting you but… If you don't mind me asking… what are you doing here?" Frimelda had to ask, why would a noble be in the SEWERS?!

"Do not apologize, it was my fault. I was running with my attention placed elsewhere and as such I did not see you. I believe a proper explanation may pay that debt." Her tone, her manner of speech only further solidified Frimelda's theory. "I truly doubt you do not recognize me… as such I'll not try to hide my identity. I was only planning on putting on my cowl once I reached the exterior." She told her. Frimelda's eyes shot open once the shaded person's face came into the light.

"P-P-Princess Ashelia!" She stuttered, immediately falling to one knee.

"DO NOT bow to me! I forbid you!" Ashelia ordered, actually offended by her reaction.

"But I…" Frimelda began but a look on the Princess' eyes told her it was unwise to say no, even if she WAS younger. "I'll do so." And she got up.

"Very good. I am here for I was tired of living in the Palace. I have not stepped foot outside of it if not for diplomatic journeys. I am eight years old and I still have not seen Rabanastre… that is why I'm here." She went straight to the point. "And that is why I ask you not to treat me as a princess. To dupe the guards, especially my bodyguard Basch, was quite the ordeal and I just want to experience the city." Frimelda, surprisingly, could see how Ashelia's eyes began to water as she told her tale. She was eight years old, it was understandable. "Please… would you stay quiet about me?" She begged. Frimelda took a deep breath and thought about it. It would be dangerous to leave an eight year old princess, the only heir to the throne, roam the streets of the lower town alone. There was only one solution.

"I will. On one condition." She told the girl, who looked at her with inquisitive eyes. "I'll be the one to show you the city." Ashelia looked at her confused at her benevolence. "I have nothing better to do to tell the truth. You may as well have a guide." This caused Ashelia to actually jump into her arms, hugging her.

"Thank you…" She did not know her name.

"Frimelda." She replied, keeping her last name to herself.

"Thank you Frimelda! Please… call me Ashe. It was what my mother used to call me. I prefer it over a long name like Ashelia." Frimelda was quite taken aback by this. Suddenly she was being treated like a friend by THE HEIR TO THE KINGDOM.

"Are you sure you want me to treat you so casually?" She asked, to which Ashe replied:

"Yes. We can be friends, can we not?" Ashe asked determinedly as if she would not let up till she said yes.

"I... I think we can. But I never had one before so…" She felt ashamed of admitting it but her life on the lower city was relentless. Ashe's eyes, instead of judging her, shone.

"Really?! I never had one either! I just had nannies and relatives!" She squealed, much unlike her previews composure. "We're each other's first friends!" And so began their little adventure. The outcast of the lowest lows and the heir to the kingdom.

They threw water at each other on the fountain, snuck onto a bar, visited the Clan and explored every last inch of the metropolis. All of this while having a blast at evading guards and admiring the city. Frimelda never truly appreciated being able to do this till Ashe appeared. It was weird, to play the small thief with a princess. It was getting late and they were hungry. Frimelda decided to do what she always did, sneak a couple of apples from the vendor. It never hurt him, she knew for a fact that most of the times she was seen, but the vendor let her have them.

"So… Frimelda. You know who I am, but I know not who you are. May I ask you some questions?" Ashe asked her as they sat on the wall that separated the city from the desert around it. At first, Frimelda had been hesitant to talk about herself, but after sharing this day with Ashe, the single greatest one in her life, she relented and nodded. "Thank you. May I ask why you were on the Waterway? Was it for a diversion?" She hit the nail right in the head instantly. Frimelda shook her head, eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry… if you do not..."

"No Ashe. You are the only one I can tell this to." Frimelda replied, to which the girl waited patiently for her to continue. Summoning all her courage she began. "When I was five years old, my father left my mother. He was the only one who provided for the family as my mother was paralyzed when I was born. Since she couldn't move her legs, we could not make ways to get gil and, because of that, we were kicked out of our house. My mother… was always a weak person, not in soul but in body. The Plague took her away from me three years ago. I had to make do with what I could after that. I've been living alone since then. Yes Ashe, I am a thief." She confessed. Ashe seemed surprised, but not because of her being a thief.

"But your movements are so precise and calculated. Surely you must have had a master." She pointed out. Frimelda cringed.

"My father…" She replied, not wanting to share nothing more, she lied. "Was an accomplished mercenary. He taught me the sword one year before he left."

"That is insane! Are you to tell me you learned the sword at four years of age?!" She exclaimed. Frimelda couldn't blame her.

"Yes… and it has been my only pastime. My father told me I scared him… that no one my age should be able to wield a sword as good as I did… sometimes I wonder if I was the reason he left…" At this time, a lone tear made her way down her right cheek. "I just wish I didn't have this… "gift". It's a curse! The reason I was in the Waterway was because I saved a woman from a couple of assailants with a wooden stick. Turns out three of them were part of royal knights and were abusing their influence to get what they wanted. When I beat them with a wooden stick… I was marked for life. I was a "demon" to everyone who saw me. Just because I was skilled with it. Some even accused me of selling my soul for power… That was one year ago… they never relented." If anyone would've told Ashe this, she would simply dismiss them as lunatics. Even for an eight-year old, it was ridiculous that a nine year old with barely any formal training could dispatch three royal guards. Yet… Why would Frimelda lie? She did feel the need to ask something though:

"Frimelda… your father, why did he leave?" Frimelda took a good look at her and replied only with:

"My full name is Frimelda Lotice." She knew Ashe, of all people, knew what that meant.

"You're… High General Braham Lotice's daughter?!" She exclaimed, of course knowing who the leader of the army and the royal guard was. Frimelda only nodded. "I… never thought he was a good person, but he is so good with a sword my father had to give him the role. Wait… is that why…"

"Yes. He was probably afraid of me taking his position. He left my mother and myself to die just because I was a prodigy. And I know he only married my mother for one thing… her heritage. The Fallen Angel. Ivalice's finest sword, passed on by her family for ten generations, they say the sword was made by the Goddess herself. I was just a step he had to take to steal it from her." Remember. This was a ten year old girl. One can only wonder how Frimelda had the strength of will to keep going without a family or anything. "I… always dreamed of doing just what he feared." She continued, now with pure determination in her eyes. "To take the only thing he has and the only thing he ever wanted! Power! And I can do it! I know it, HE knows it! One day… One day I'll set things right…" She finished, claiming herself as to not scare Ashe. She was mature beyond her years, but she doubted Ashe was. Wrong.

"Frimelda, tomorrow, be at the Garamsythe Waterway where we met at noon. I'll have a surprise for you." She said with a sheepish smile. At first, Frimelda found it weird how that was the reaction to her life's story, but then she realized how wasting the rest of the day they had together walling in pain was disrespectful to her. So, even though she knew not what she was planning, she smiled and nodded. They spent the rest of the sunlight admiring the sunset and then Frimelda accompanied Ashe to the Waterway. Now more optimistic than ever, having made a friend, she found somewhere safe where to crash for the night and did so, inside a alleyway blocked by a merchant cart.

* * *

Eventually, the time for meeting Ashe came. It was not even noon when Frimelda had found herself sitting down on the same corner she and Ashe had met. To tell the truth, she hardly expected Ashe to be able to sneak out of the palace again, but she had nothing better to do so she waited what seemed like hours. It was just one, but it got pretty boring, sitting in the sewers. However, just as the faith on Ashe wavered and her stomach begged for nourishment, a small set of arms grabbed her from the side.

"Mel! I am here!" Ashe exclaimed whimsically.

"Mel?" Frimelda questioned.

"If you are to call me by another name… can I not do the same?" Ashe asked, to which Frimelda just let out a laugh.

"I suppose…" She replied, her curiosity now extending to another matter. "So, Ashe, what was the surprise you had in store for me?" Ashe smiled and tugged her arm across the corner. Frimelda gasped as she came face to face with a blonde man in his mid-twenties decorated in royal knight armor.

"You are Braham's daughter?" He asked in his deep and to be very original here, "knightly" voice. Frimelda had paralyzed at seeing him as she thought Ashe had ratted her out after she beat up some royal guards but she was not one to lie. She nodded in response. The man kneeled in front of her and brushed her completely disorganized hairs to the side. "You have your mother's eyes…" The man suddenly stood up and punched the wall. "All these years… we believed you dead. Bandits he told us. And we believed him. Curse that Braham!" He exclaimed. Frimelda had no idea why he was so angry but the man calmed down quickly and addressed her: "You may not remember me, but I knew you as a baby. I am Basch Fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca… your father's former squire. I was there when you were cradled by your mother when you were born. She was radiant, even knowing she would never move her legs again. Your father as well, but I have doubts about that now."

"No… I think he was. His greed and fear were just greater." Basch shook his head as he saw a ten year old speak like such. Children deserved innocence, Frimelda's had been destroyed long ago.

"Be that as it may… you deserve to pay him back. And that is exactly what we are going to help you do!" Ashe exclaimed, the clanking sound of armor echoing by Frimelda's side. She looked at her side and, seeing Ashe's mischievous grin and the pieces of armor she held, she was not sure if she should be curious or frightened. "Just hold still… this won't hurt a bit." She decided on frightened.

* * *

Inside the castle.

"Are you to tell me a moogle was recommended for the royal guard?" A man in the royal knight's uniform, light brown hair and a goatee asked a teen. The teen of darker brown hair wore a turban and squire attire.

"Yes Sir Lotice… Basch himself nominated him." The squire replied as they walked into the dueling halls.

"This is an amazing opportunity for you Luc. You are to fight him in my steed." Truth is, the man didn't feel the need to "dirty his hands". They arrived at the halls and opened the door.

"That's him…" Frimelda whispered from inside her, quite ridiculous, moogle armor. Even Basch couldn't find an excuse for having a ten-year old try out.

"Remember Mel… just do your best. You probably cannot defeat him, but if you prove yourself worthy of entering… with specialized training you will be able to do so easily." Ashe told her friend, immediately adding: "And don't forget to add "kupo" to the end of each phrase!" She almost exclaimed, her tone low enough for none of the soldiers that now observed the ring where the captain of the royal guard, the princess and a "moogle" stood. She even had a pompom enchanted to stand like the moogles had.

"I will Ashe, I won't let you and Basch down." She assured, picking up the blunt practice blade. It was a little bit heavier than the stick she used, but she had used weights on her wrist to simulate a real blade so she was ready to go. She saw the two men entering the room. One of them she recognized instantly... hatred burning deep inside her being. Yet, she did not lose to it. She waited for the time to unleash it. What she loathed was how the teen by his side was the one entering the arena and facing up to her, her father was in the same position as Basch.

"I hope you do not mind my squire. He wishes to test his skills and as such, I gave him a test. I will promote him if he emerges victorious. If he loses, I will consider the moogle' entry onto the royal knights in a One Hundred Blows duel. " Frimelda cringed. He was underestimating her… even if he didn't know it to be her.

"My name is Luc Sardac, squire to Braham Lotice. You?" The teen asked in his smug tone.

"Mel… kupo." She had to play along.

"Very well… at your ready…" He said as he poised his blade at her. She smiled inwardly.

Nobody saw it coming.

One swift blow to the wrist, knocking the sword out of the teen's hand, a jab to the chin with the back of the sword and then a spinning slash to the torso that sent him hurling back against the wall. All this in a second.

Silence.

"I-I had warned you High General… do not underestimate Mel." Basch managed to say, breaking the silence. He was just posing as if he knew. He was as flabbergasted as the rest. Ashelia was the one that was less, mostly because of her innocence. Frimelda had ended a duel with someone BRED to fight in a mere second… did I mention he was FIVE years older?

"I-I see… Luc must have not been as prepared as I believed he was…" He let out a weak laughter. You could tell he was scared. "Well then… shall we have our test?" He asked as he took Luc's blade. "I trust you know the rules. The referee will call for action and we shall try and hit one another. The first to reach 100 blows or to make the opponent forfeit is the winner. Of course, I will not forfeit… but you may. The stamina needed is truly out of a normal guard's realm. The fastest One Hundred Blows duel took five hours to complete." She knew he was intimidating her… and it amused her. She was going hit him. No matter what, she had to hit him if only once. No matter how he was the most powerful man in Ivalice, she had to do it!

"I understand, Kupo!" She exclaimed, readying herself. The man did the same but noted how her pose was eerily similar; they both positioned the blade slightly behind their right leg while protecting the body with their left arm. He still dismissed it as an imitator.

"As it is written, let us cross our blades!" The referee shouted, to which Frimelda and Braham carved their blades diagonally on the floor so that they formed a cross.

*Cue: Final Fantasy XII's "Boss Battle"*

"Begin!"

Braham decided to give her the first move to evaluate how she attacked. Bad call. His brain registered her thrust, but his body was not fast enough to respond, it was just too fast…

"Point goes to Mel! One to none for the challenger!"

The silence returned.

"V-Very good! Let us continue!" Braham said, now intimidated. "_Who is this person?!"_ I can tell you, he didn't want to know.

"Begin!" The referee proclaimed.

This time Braham took the offensive with a right handed sweep that aimed at the girl's head. She ducked under it and, before he could react, he was thrown into the hair as the practice blade collided with his chin.

"Point goes to Mel! Two to none for the challenger!"

Basch's mouth was now wide agape. His record against Braham had been twenty hits yes, but she had just pulled two hits without even trying. She was just too fast for him.

"She's amazing…" Ashe said, even she in her innocence couldn't see this coming.

"Don't go easy on the moogle, General!" One soldier shouted.

"_Fool… he isn't."_ Basch said to himself.

"_Surely he cannot be stronger than I am…"_ Braham guessed.

"Begin!"

Braham did a downwards swipe, clashing with Frimelda at the center. He planned to use his supposed superior strength to push her against the wall and disarm her. It did not happen. Instead, he saw his blade slowly getting pushed back before the girl bellowed a scream and sent him flying. He landed on his back, completely stunned at the display and saw the "moogle" crash on top of him.

"Point goes to Mel! Three to none for the challenger."

A mere hour later:

"Point goes to Mel! Ninety-Five to none for the challenger!"

No one spoke during the match. No one could. This was the strongest man in Ivalice getting absolutely DOMINATED. And if they knew what Basch and Ashe knew… even more so. The strongest man in Ivalice could not so much as TOUCH his ten year old daughter. At this point, King Raminas entered the room, causing everyone but Ashe and the combatants to bow at his presence.

"Do not give yourself to courtesy! Once I knew that a One Hundred Blows duel was to happen, I knew I could not miss it. Now, may I know if the newcomer causing you any grieves?" King Raminas, the bearded man in his forties asked Braham, who had no answer possible.

"Papa! Mel is winning Ninety-Five to Zero!" Ashe exclaimed, running to her father for a hug. He returned the hug and laughed, of course not believing it.

"A conniving story. But truly Basch, may I ask the score? It has only been an hour so if I may guess… Thirty to ten?" He guessed. Basch could not find the words to break it to him more simply than:

"What Princess Ashelia said… was exactly the score your majesty…" He told him. King Raminas almost let his own daughter fall to the ground, running up to the combatants and ordering:

"HALT!" Essentially saving Braham from yet another loss. He took a good long look at Frimelda and solemnly ask: "Do you expect me to believe a little girl whose disguise is naught but a pompom on her armor… is destroying my most powerful soldier?" The entire room gasped. King Raminas was much more perceptive than anyone there. This caused Frimelda to cringe while Ashe and Basch ran up to the king.

"Papa! She may be a small girl, but we are not trying to fool you! Ask anyone here!" She looked at everyone and, while most were unable to even SPEAK, there was one that did.

"Brother… she is right." Marquis Ondore assured, rising from the middle of the crowd. "I have witnessed it." He knew how to sneak.

"If that is correct… girl, show yourself. I will let the duel end and overlook your deceiving to gain access to it if you do so." That was music to Frimelda's ears. Slowly, she turned to her father and took off her helm. She saw his face grow pale, as if a ghost had appeared in front of him.

"Hello… My name is Frimelda Lotice. YOU killed my mother… prepare to die." She threatened, taking delight in how the man was slowly backing away from her.

"Y-you… how did you survive?!" He stuttered. Even Ondore was caught off guard. That was extremely rare.

"Was your family not slain by bandits… in front of your eyes?" Raminas asked, anger filling his voice. He had seen five-year-old Frimelda and this girl HAD to be her. It was the splitting image.

"I-it was…" Still clinging to that weak lie, Braham took matters into his own hands, dropping the practice sword and reaching for the crystalline sword on his hip. The sword was much like a longsword, just made in a material that closely resembled crystal, it's guard a wing of angel, hence the name, the Fallen Angel. "Monster! DEMON!" He meant what he said, even if by different context. He swung the blade at Frimelda, who, eyes sharpening, twisted her sword around it, knowing it would be cleaved in a clash, and with the flick of a wrist, she disarmed him, having the Fallen Angel fall on her left hand. To add insult to injury, she poked his chest.

"Count!" She told the referee.

"Point goes to Mel! Ninety-Six to none for the challenger!" He exclaimed, flabbergasted as he was.

"Now!" Frimelda screamed, all the years of hatred and frustration in full display. She thrust at the man, cutting his right cheek open. "Offer me money!" She demanded, the announcer counting the blow as the ninety-seventh.

"Yes…" By this time, Braham was desperate and terrified. His true colors were showing.

"Power too, promise me that!" Frimelda demanded again, slashing his left cheek while poising her blade at his neck. Ninety-Eight.

"All that I have and more… please…" No one knew what to think, this was too much of a fairy tale to be true!

"Offer me anything I ask for!" Frimelda told him, prodding him further.

"Anything you want…"Frimelda, upon hearing this, deviated her look to Ashe, who shook her head:

"Don't do it Mel! You are not like that!" She screamed, hating this side of her friend. While this happened though, Braham reached for his belt and pulled out another blade, swigging directly at his daughter's head. She spat while she blocked it, knocking the sword away and stabbing the man in the stomach.

"I want my mother back you son of a bitch!" She told him, deafly shouting before kicking him against the wall, where he slowly descended into a sitting position. There, she took her blade to his torso, one thrust away from his heart. "Tell me one reason not to do what I should do…" She whispered to her father.

"I… I…" He had no reason to give her. She had rejected riches and power… he had nothing more.

"THERE IS NO REASON!" She roared. He closed his eyes and felt his armor crack. Yet, the blade merely scratched his chest. Frimelda had spared him. "Yet… I'm not a sad bastard like you. I'll let you be judged by your crimes. Me? I have friends to return to." She finished, reaching for her mother's sword's sheath and ripping it off the underserving man. "I'll be taking this as well." And with that, she sheeted his blade in her hip and walked away. And the referee added insult to injury.

"Point goes to Frimelda Lotice! For the first time history I proclaim the winner to be the challenger with a godlike ONE HUNDRED TO NONE!" He began clapping and, the after such a display of emotion and skill, the other soldiers could only do the same, cheering for the ten-year-old that was now the most powerful person in their nation.

"I… have no words…" Raminas began, appearing in front of Frimelda. Seeing this, she knelt down, not knowing what to expect. "I simply cannot offer you a position in the royal guard my girl…" She knew it. She had broken the rules after all.

"But Papa!" Ashe pleaded, being silenced by her father's hand.

"You deserve much more! I wonder how the country will react to a High General several years younger than the normal recruitment age!" Everyone but Ondore could not contain their shock.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" They all screamed in unison.

"She defeated the former High General, quite easily may I add, in a One Hundred Blows duel. She has earned the right. That is… if she accepts." He explained, turning his knowing expression to Frimelda. She had doubts about commanding the entire countries' forces… but she loathed the lowtown and how she was hated there. And she would live on the same castle as her only friend!

"I… will, but can you nominate advisors until I am ready to command by myself?" She asked, hoping the king would accept. He only smiled while Ashe jumped onto her.

That was how her life did a heel turn.

* * *

Now, people either called her a Demon or an Angel… it all depended on the side they were on really. Only fitting for someone wielding the Fallen Angel. In the eleven years that had passed, she had created her own style, taking advantage of the dual-wielding skill she herself devised, separate from the Ninja's version. When she did that, people started saying she was no longer a Paladin. She was deemed a Justicar. Five years ago, she met and fought Orlandeu, even going as far as surprising the elder master of the sword. He hadn't expected such challenge from a sixteen-year old. For that, he gave her one of the twin Save the Queens. But enough about her, she had arrived at where she knew Ashe to be, the balcony.

"Ashe?" She called, knowing they were alone in their.

"Mel." Ashe acknowledged, appearing from the side of the doorway. Amazingly, she had already changed clothing. She was not wearing her regal gown, heck, she wasn't even wearing her tiara that she wore when she lacked the crown. No, she was dressed a lot more casual, red shorts, white vest and brown boots.

"Are you really going to go through with this?" Frimelda asked her childhood friend.

"I…" She began, but Frimelda silenced her with a hug.

"Just do what you have to do… but tell me what you are going to try exactly. You know… after escaping. And why now?" The Justicar asked her.

"Vayne knows I have a card up my sleeve. I'll escape now and meet up with the rebels. And to answer your question Frimelda… The council will not submit. You saw it today. They will play Mateus' game for as long as they are able to. The only way to save Ivalice… and the world, is for me to create a Rift inside it. I'll escape to the Returners and be branded a traitor… however, if we are victorious in our battle to conquer Ivalice, I will accuse Vayne for ordering my assassination, forcing me to flee, don't fret, he was preparing for it anyway. Larsa has agreed that if I swear to only strip his older brother of all his powers, than he will cooperate with me for he knows how much of a snake he truly is…" Ashe explained, pulling away from Frimelda. "And this Mel, is where I need you to be strongest. Stay here and be an wall to the Returners. IF we cannot climb said wall, then we would've never stood a chance against the Empire and we deserve to burn. I'll be the traitor… you the hero." She finished with saddened eyes. Frimelda shook her head and looked away.

"You ask too much of me Ashe. I love you as the sister you are to me. I cannot strike you down or even attempt to do so." She replied, feeling tears staining her eyes, but she held them back.

"You have to… don't worry Frimelda, we will be victorious. I would not try this if I did not believe we could do it. I will be a liar, but I can live with that." Ashe assured, cupping Frimelda's hand with her own. "But please… my sister. Do not die… I will never forgive myself if I have to sacrifice not only part of my people but my sister as well." They looked at each other, no words could describe what they felt. Melancholy? Sadness? Maybe. Ashe was the only thing Frimelda could call family in the world, save for Basch… who was leaving too. And she would have to live while she called them traitors to the land… the ones who were willing to give everything for it. This world was a dirty, unfair place.

"I will live if you do. If you die, I'll follow." Frimelda assured, taking her hands off Ashe's and turning her back. "Run now, the guard's shift will end in ten minutes. You and Basch should be able to slip through during that small window." Ashe tried to say something, but she felt she could not. Instead, she nodded and ran off, leaving Frimelda to stare at the moonlight, tears falling from her chin, the light making it so they masqueraded as crystals.

* * *

The Queen met up with her guard on the main hall. They both knew off the secret exit to the Garamsythe Waterway, having used it to escape the castle so many times. Basch Fon Rosenburg was also dressed casually in a red vest, armored beige trousers, brown boots and a protective leather sleeve on his right arm. They had to blend in as best as they could. The guard's shift had ended so Basch went to inform them of such, telling them he would stand at guard until the next pair would come. They thanked him for his supposed generosity and left.

"The way is clear Your Highness." Basch told her. She knew of it, but was still unnerved. She took another look at the main hall of the Castle, now empty. "You may still go back…"

"No. I told Frimelda to sound the alarm of my disappearance once the guards switched. And this is the only way. Open the trapdoor." With that, Basch complied and they headed to the Waterway. They could hear the screams and the bells as Frimelda had told everyone that the Queen was gone.

* * *

They ran through the sewers as fast as they could, evading the patrols that had been sent looking for her and her bodyguard. It was all going as planned for a few minutes, but as they drew closer to the exit, so did the number of guards. Eventually, the inevitable happened.

"I see them! Queen Ashelia and the traitor Basch Fon Ronsenburg!" One could only imagine people would think Basch had kidnapped her. It made sense really. Yet, they had much greater problems. They had run back, entering the forbidden part of the Waterway, were monsters had infested every part of it like Malboros and such. Yet, they kept going, wishing the beasts would slow down the guards. In some strange twist of fate, there were no Malboros on the sewers that day. For once, Ashe cursed her luck for that.

"Dead end!" Basch snarled. They had come up to a giant waterfall of sludge, the guards quickly approaching. "Your Majesty, I'm going to need to stay behind me!" He shouted, drawing his blade. "When I open a breech in their defenses, I want you to run through and never look back!"

"But Basch…" She protested. Was she really going to lose someone already?

"Do you have a better course of action?!" He questioned, to which Ashe didn't have to answer.

"JUMP!" They heard a voice shout. It could come from anywhere. "C'mon, I'll catch you!"

"I recognize that voice…" Ashe whispered, turning to Basch, who looked back. He sighed and nodded as he saw her use that devious smile she had shown him every time she did something very un-royal like. He sheathed his blade and, together, they let their bodies fall not the abyss.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" The guards shouted, but, before they reached the ledge, a voice cried:

"SHINE!" With the voice came a blaze of light that blinded all of the onlookers, Ashe and Basch included. Ashe then felt herself falling into something, a human body to be precise. She opened her eyes but they were still thunderstruck by the light so she had to rely on her other senses. She felt like she was flying but most importantly, she had to hear the conversation:

"Cue: *Stalwarts Unite*"

"What? Don't like being rescued by a pirate? Well, to be fair I'd rather rescue the damsel than I do you, but beggars can't be choosers, can they?" She immediately recognized that voice as the voice of that sky pirate that, while quite a specimen of a man, flaunted it too much for Ashe to take seriously. Balthier was it? After a short while, her vision began to return and she saw her savior.

"Why if it isn't the worst "butler" I have had the displeasure of meeting." She told Vaan, who went from a grin to a grimace.

"Why do you always pick on that? I was just there to serve as your link to the Returners!" The teen replied as they made their way to a crowd.

"Because I had to put up with you for a year, which effectively made me have to provide for myself since your contributions weren't even neutral… they were NEGATIVE!" She pointed out, remembering how many invaluable family treasures she had to "relocate" after Vaan had "unfortunate accidents" with them. That and the tea… she felt the need to puke at the mere thought of the tea Vaan brought her. How could one go so wrong?!

"Now, now… this is not the time to quarrel." Naesala, who was carrying Basch and Balthier told her, landing and transforming back to his human form.

"Something tells me I will need some time to adjust to what I'm about to see…" Ashe lamented as she saw what had just happened. Truth is, Ranulf had never transformed in front of her, so she was still new to the "Laguz" stuff. That and she had no idea what she was riding. It was Gwydion, Elincia steering the flying equine, but for one which had only HEARD about horses, Pegasus were a bit out of her mind.

"Don't worry, we're still trying to adjust to your world as well." Elincia replied with a giggle. "Never did I think to see flying boats." And then they landed. Wasting no time, Ashe jumped out of her "savior's" arms and into the ground. She was… quite surprised at the numbers. She thought they would be less really.

"Long time no see, heh, Ashelia?" Ike greeted.

"Blunt as always, aren't you Ike? And I prefer Ashe, thank you." Ashe riposted.

"Isn't Ashe the name you give to your friends only?" Vaan butted in. Damn this guy is really stupid…

"And that's why I'm Ashelia to you." Ashe told him.

"Hey…" Vaan whimpered before Basch taking the reins.

"Let us talk as we walk. I take it you have an escape plan?" The knight asked. The way Ike began scratching the back of his head and Balthier coughed, he understood. "How doomed are we?"

"We're on the worst situation possible to tell the truth. Most of us have no idea how the Waterway works and Edge and Volke reported guards at every exit Vaan told us about." Micaiah told her fellow Queen.

"Well… we could always go through…" Ashe began, looking to Basch for council.

"We should. Tradition takes second place to survival." The captain of the royal guard nodded.

"Well then, let us go. You can tell me how you arrived a whole month earlier on the way there." And with that, they began to follow Ashe deeper into the Waterway, the forbidden part no less.

The explanation didn't take long, but the walk did. During it though, Ashe began being bombarded by questions about how airships worked and how she escaped, most of which asked VERY casually.

"Vaan." She called, trying to figure out just why this happened.

"Yeah?" He asked, curious about what could she want with him.

"These Telians… they know what nobility is?" He shot her a confused look. She sighed and explained: "I like how they treat me as an equal, but I don't understand how they can speak to a Queen so casually." She normally had to hide who she was to have people talk to her like a normal person.

"The reason may be that they are… used to it." Ashe turned to see Elincia now walking on her side. "All of them have spent more than a year traveling with me and traveled on three different occasions. Micaiah was also crowned and those two…" She pointed at Tibarn and Naesala, the hawk giving a death stare to the crow that was serenating the heron. "Are kings. The outlook of normal Telians of nobility is probably what you'd expect, but you fell into a bucket of… exceptions to say the least."

"Well… I can live with that." Ashe replied with a small smile.

"We're here Your Highness." Basch said, the entirety of the group having reached a dead end. They were in front of a wall, a wall that had the drawing of a creature, neither Ox nor Human, it was just that. "The Wall of Gigas." There was a small granite bowl in the center of it, it looked much like the giant had cupped his hands to create it.

"Well then, shall we begin?" She asked, reaching for her sword. She unsheathed it and took the blade in her hand.

"Hey, what are you…?" Ike asked before seeing Ashe pull the sword, whining as she drew blood. She then quickly positioned her hand over the cupped hands of the giant and let the blood flow into it.

"'Tis the only way to open it." Basch explained. Sure enough, there was a tremor, followed by the wall shinning in red light. As the red light encompassed the room and faded, it left behind the giant, now made flesh. Crimson fur and brown skin now replaced stone. The room was also filled by a misty substance, one that drove Terra to her limits.

"Is that… an Esper?" Terra asked, feeling towards the creature the same aura she felt from herself, just… darker. "What is this Mist? I… I'm feeling dizzy…" She gasped, her skin flickering violet.

"Whatever you are going to do, do it fast! Terra can't take much more of this environment." Shinryu warned, grabbing Terra and doing his best to keep her awake. God knows what would happen if her human side went to sleep. Ashe took his advice to heart.

"Scion of Darkness… Belias, the Gigas! I, Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca true heir to the Dynast King command you… grant us passage and give us your power." She commanded, not a shroud of doubt in her voice, even though the beast looked like it could easily fight our small army. Yet, that did not happen. The beast seemed to look at Ashe, as if examining her, it extended its hand, to which Ashe gave her bloodied hand. The best touched it and smelled the blood. Nodding, it kneeled to Ashe, vanishing into a thick mist that congregated around the Queen. Then, just like it came, the mist vanished without a trace. And just as it did, Terra's body returned to normal. The same couldn't be said about Ashe, she instantly fell limp to the side, if it weren't for Basch she would be on the floor.

"Majesty, are you well?" The knight asked. Ashe cringed and wheezed, but eventually nodded.

"Well enough to not delay our march." Said the Queen like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"You do know we have a Pegasus right here along with two horses and a chocobo with Kurth at the city's entrance, don't you?" Ike pointed out, pointing at Gwydion.

"I don't mind." Elincia assured.

"Maybe a little help wouldn't be so bad." Ashe broke down and accepted, hopping on Gwydion with his owner's help. "Now, shall we move? It will only stay open till I cross it, so you should pass the threshold first." There was now a passage where the wall once stood and, as such, a way out.

"Sec." Vaan requested, forcefully grabbing Ashe's hand and trying a piece of cloth around it. "There, all better!" One could only wonder how Vaan just had been… smooth. But he hadn't. First, he completely missed how the Queen blushed when he did that. And really, it was so pronounced IKE noticed. Two, it wasn't his idea. Let's cut to Zidane, which was at this very moment adjusting his tie, which really, was exactly the same as the cloth Vaan had used to bandage Ashe.

"I'm so good… SELF-FIVE!" And he high-fives himself… he's going to get us sued. True to her word, once Ashe passed the place where the wall once was, it magically reappeared.

* * *

As they walked across the dark passage, Micaiah lighting the path with her magic, explanations were in order.

"Ashe, what the heck happened back there?" Ike asked, still dallying about how a creature he had never seen before appeared out of a wall, only to be absorbed by Ashe.

"What you are about to see has been entrusted to the ruling member of the Dalmascan Royal Family and their closest guards for generations. It is protected by Belias the Gigas, an Esper that guards the entryway. He only appears when royal blood, that of his former master, the Dynast King, is shed. I ordered him to come with us so we can make use of his power even before we take Ivalice." All of that made sense to Ike for the most part, yet, there was a slight thing that peeved him.

"All this secrecy for what?" Even the medallion that contained the GODDESS wasn't so tightly sealed. Ashe chuckled.

"Look ahead…"Ike did so, realizing they had entered a room lit in a greenish light. "The chamber… of the Wind Crystal." A light breeze enveloped everyone in the room, which should be impossible due to how it was deep underground. The room seemed something out of this world. The ground was all of made of a crystalline material that shone in a soothing clear light. Yet, what lit the room was not it. The one thing that deviated from the crystalline surface was an altar that arose on the center of the room. Above the stairs was a giant light green crystal, floating above its pedestal. Micaiah's shoulder flared up, Yune making an appearance. Even she seemed entranced.

"I… never saw anything quite like this…" She said in-between deep breaths. The girl-like goddess hoped to the top of the stairs and observed the crystal. "Queenie… what is this?" She asked, reaching out to touch the crystal.

"DON'T!" Basch roared. Yune stopped and turned, having broken off her trance-like state. "If you touch the crystal, the energies may go haywire and consume you."

"I doubt they would consume a goddess, but I'm not about to try." You could tell Basch was completely taken back by how she entitled herself of goddess. "The Airbrethers will fill you in after we are safe."

"To answer your question… we do not know exactly what these are. We only know that the Four Crystals have existed for hundreds of years. Legend tells us that when the land is covered by darkness, they shall pick four Warriors of Light as their saviors. It also tells us that magic is a gift from the crystals and for that we treasure it. It is because of the Wind Crystal that Ivalice's airships are second to none, our magicite is naturally more powerful when used on the air. Yet… only the last part of the legend seems to be true…" Ashe finished, a tired sigh coming from her.

"Four Warriors of legend huh? Maybe you are putting your hopes way too high, but still, this continent changed a lot since I left it…" Yune said.

"Elincia! Where are you going?!" Unbeknownst to anyone in the room, Elincia had somehow walked all the way to the middle of the room and was slowly walking up the altar. Ike dashed towards her, but he knew that if she kept walking like she was, he wasn't going to catch up to her. Yune looked downwards to her and saw that her eyes were completely glazed as she stared directly into the crystal.

"Hey, Eli, what are you up too… wait what?!"One moment Yune was going to try and stop Elincia, the other she found herself falling on top of Sothe. "That rock just ported me away!"

With Yune out of the way, no one was there to stop Elincia to slowly reach out to the crystal and, as Ike reached the stairs, touch it.

"Elincia!" Ike called as the room exploded in green light. No one expected Elincia to survive it, but, surprisingly, as the light dimmed, Ike saw Elincia standing on the same position as she once was… thing is the crystal had vanished. Still, Ike cared little for it once Elincia started falling backwards. Running up the stairs, he caught her as she fell. She was unconscious, but he felt her pulse on her neck. What really surprised him was how she had the Wind Crystal, or at least, something small resembling said crystal, on her hand. The crystal that had been bigger than him was now slightly bigger than Elincia's palm. Putting her on his shoulders, he carried her over to the crowd.

"The crystal… chose her?!" Ashe spat, unable to contain her astonishment.

"I think… we should get out of here as fast as we can…" Vaan said, unsure if taking the crystal would make the room go Indiana Jones on their rear.

"Do you not understand the situation?!" Ashe blared, completely out of herself. Had she really seen what she thought she had seen?

"None of us do my young lady, and that is why we must leave as fast as we can to a place where we can evaluate the situation. Now, would be so kind as to point out the exit?" Balthier intervened, giving Ashe an argument she really couldn't argue against.

"Very well… do you have need of the Pegasus?" She asked Ike, who shook his head.

"I'll carry her, you take Gwydion until we get out." The Vanguard replied.

"Seems fair. Now follow me." And with that, they departed. _"Could she really be… a Warrior of Light?"_

* * *

After a bit of walking, they found a door to the outside, this one was oaken and had no real defense mechanism, but Ashe explained that the door only appeared as someone was exiting from it, it was impossible to enter from there. They crossed it and found themselves in a more standard room.

"Where are we?" Ike asked.

"A chamber beneath the Aerodrome. Let us board your ship Balthier." Ashe told the sky pirate, who smirked.

"Let us do better than that…" He whispered, grabbing a communicator. "Fran? Yes, this is Balthier. Change of plans. Look for a man named Kurth on the exit to the city and take him to the Strahl… I'll be in touch." After that, he cracked his knuckles and said. "Time to show you children the family business."

* * *

"You got a seven?" Mark asked, shifting through his hand.

"Go fish." Zack replied.

"I suck at this more than my creator!" Mark roared, slamming his hand on the ground. "But I should have known I would… after Eliwood getting hit with so many 1% crits and giving me a game over…"

"I will never understand what in the devil Mark is talking about. I was never the victim of a critical strike." Eliwood told Marcus.

"With all due respect sir… you wouldn't LIVE through a crit. Hector would, not you." The old Paladin told him, shifting through his cards.

"Way to kick a man while he's down Marcus." Eliwood shot back.

"Of course sir." He nodded.

Suddenly though, the door to the cell opened, catching all of the four players off guard. In came Aerith. She was a mess, messy hair, swollen eyes, she had been crying.

"What happen Rith?" Zack asked with a preoccupied look on his face.

"I… couldn't stop them…" She said in the most hurt tone anyone could pull off.

"What do you mean?" The former God General was worried now.

"Zack, you have a week to live." She said before covering her face in shame, crying some more. "I'm sorry… me and Jecht tried to stop it, even Orlandeu defended you… Lightning herself showed discomfort but…"

"Don't worry flower girl. Don't you know how the drill works? The good guys are always saved ONLY in the last second." Even after sharing the cell for almost three months, the sheer amount of optimist Zack demonstrated still baffled anyone there.

"This isn't a fairy tale Zack… the method of execution is… the Coliseum." She whimpered, but, much to her surprise, he smiled back.

"This is gonna be quite a show!" He exclaimed.

* * *

"Sir! We are receiving a transmission from the Dalmascan flagship!" A guard shouted as he entered the training room for Noctis and Squall.

"Why did you not take this to my father?" Noctis asked, to which the guard answered:

"The frequency was of sir Squall's telephone." They were both surprised. What would the leaders of Dalmasca want with Squall and not their king?

"Okay then, put it on screen." He ordered, the guard nodding and transferring the images to the screen.

Instant Facepalm.

"Hey Squall! Check what we got from the Aerodrome!" Bartz shouted, waving his arms and showing the entire crew inside the ship being our heroes.

"How did they… steal the Rosa Brilliante?!" Noctis gasped, shocked by the theft of the most prized possession of the Dalmascan air force.

"This is either a very good omen… or they are too crazy for their own good." Squall said, sighing.

* * *

"High General Lotice! The Queen has fled the country! We suspect that she sided with the Returners… she took the Rosa Brilliante General! What do we do?" Frimelda grimaced and sent him away to await orders. When she was sure she was alone though, she fell into a fit of laughter.

"That's my little sister!" She exclaimed, wiping a tear from her eyes. "Always making a commotion when she lets herself go wild!"

* * *

Now with none other than the Queen of Ivalice siding with them, our heroes set course for Esthar, the capital of the rebellion. Yet, as one of the few honorable people in the Empire is sentenced to death on enemy soil… will our heroes gamble with fate? This may be Zack Fair's last stand...

"I'll take each and every one of you out!"

"Boy oh boy… the price of freedom sure is steep…"

"This was not how it was supposed to go…"

Next Chapter! The Price of Freedom

* * *

Okay guys, let me explain how tiers will work now. I'm making it so Tier 3 goes up to 30 in this story. Why? Because I don't want half of my cast having no growth because they already capped Tier 3. Tier 4 will only have 10 levels because of that, yet, if someone is 2 levels above another, that is like that person was 4 levels in the normal FE system. AKA, tier 4 has half the levels, but they are worth twice as much. I say this since I'm introducing the first one now.

**Frimelda Lotice**

Justicar, Level 7

This effectively means she's 24 levels above Ike… ouch.

**Cidolfus Orlandeu**

Sword Saint, Level 10

**Ashelia "Ashe" B'nargin Dalmasca**

Queen, Level 10

This queen class works as a Sword-wielding Time Mage, taking inspiration in Revenant Wings.

*Vaan Voice* **CAPTAIN BASCH FON RONSENBURG OF DALMASCA**

Paladin*, Level 24

**Braham Lotice** (Flashback)

Paladin*, Level 20

**All of the cast**

Plus 4 levels during the time they spent on the boat. Shin and Celes are now capped 2nd tiers. Training is good for you, ya know?

THIS is the Justicar class line:

Squire, Knight, Paladin*, Justicar

*Means that this is the Final Fantasy version of a class.

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**I may or may not have gone crazy writing Frimelda's backstory… well, at least you care for her now, right? Her backstory was the ONLY backstory I had fun writing so I love it, hope you did too. That said, next chapter you get more action, time to try and rescue Zack! And there's a very… VERY awaited appearance of a certain Lord from FE coming next chapter so stay tuned! Can you guess who he is?! As always, reviews FEED the story! Make it better by leaving your opinions bellow!

**PS:** Did you get the obvious reference Frimelda delievered during the duel? I'll give you a hand. "My name is..." I very much doubt you don't remember this from when you were kids!


	12. The Price of Freedom

******Author's note:**Well, what we have here is something of a double feature. The chapter itself was small so I… took some liberties.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 2: The Leonhart Rebelion**

**Chapter Twelve**

******The Price of Freedom**

* * *

The Rosa Brilliante. Many call it the pinnacle of Moogle technology and that claim is not totally without truth. One could argue if an airship, as advanced and unmatched as it was, could support the burden of being called a race's finest achievement, but one could not argue that this ship was not the finest in the continent. The Dreadnaught, Palamecia's mothership, clocked three times slower than the Rosa, its speed was so overwhelming even light airships like Balthier's Strahl could not keep up. Not to mention the vast armament and its sheer size. Now, normally, there was a catch to this behemoth. It could not leave the vicinity of Rabanastre for it was powered by harnessing the Wind Crystal's energy. But if you do remember our last chapter, you will of course remember that the Wind Crystal had become more… mobile. Speaking of which…

"How is this monstrosity flying?!" Ranulf exclaimed, still clutching to his stomach. "I'm getting airsick… Be right back!" And he again ran into the bathroom after expressing his doubts.

"Who cares?! It's awesome!" Mia and Al echoed, turning to high-five each other.

"Still… I can't say I feel very much safe inside this flying boat…" Micaiah confessed, doing her best to steer her vision from the windows. The soft and quick pacing of two small feet made themselves known.

"I am insulted! The Rosa is our race's pride!" Micaiah turned back and saw no one. "Down here!" The voice shouted. Micaiah looked downwards and was surprised off her feet. She fell with her rear on the ground as the being crossed his… paws in annoyance. "What? Never saw a Moogle before?" He was a dark colored rabbit-like creature in a green jumpsuit. But what stood put the most was his orange furry ball that hanged from his head.

"I'm… sorry but I have not." She replied. The moogle took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I just get irritated when people doubt my magnum opus." The moogle apologized, just in time to stop Sothe from swooping in.

"You must understand that from where they come they have no airships. They do not doubt you Nono, just the concept in itself." The… bunny-laguz told the Moogle. "I'd wager they never saw a Viera up until now." The dark-skinned woman, which was wearing close to nothing, really, it was quite distracting really, almost as much as her bunny ears that extended from her hair.

"Well, that would be correct Fran. I trust the Strahl is doing good." Balthier questioned from the commands.

"I do not know why you ask when you clearly have no doubts on the matter." The woman pointed out.

"Well, there goes the courtesy." Balthier sighed. A small chuckle escaped Naesala's figure, one that Balthier would not let go unasked. "Oh, the eloquent one has found entertainment. Care to share?" He asked, continuing their unspoken duel for the most "classy" in the group. No words had been exchanged by them, they just knew.

"I was just beholding how fitting a woman which has the appearance of a bunny is to you. Clearly what you expect from a woman." He said, everyone knowing full well what he was implying. Balthier however, was not shaken by it, neither was Fran, he even went as far as to chuckle at that remark.

"Well, that's rich, coming from the person who not only fails to disguise courtship but also has gotten no results from it AND does so to a woman whose purity is the same level as a child's. This tells quite a story for your preferred age in companions." I must say… that was unnecessarily hard. But that was a one-two knockout if I ever narrated one. Needless to say, there were some in the ship that just couldn't contain their laughter. Tibarn of course, was the main offender. Naesala's face twisted and turned in such nefarious expressions, his nails sinking into his skin for a few moments before regaining his composure and powering through the mockery with a semi-straight face. The laughter was so great many forgot all about their fear of the flying ship, at least until a the orb that resided in the small lower level that linked the windows and the command board projected the familiar blue light, creating a rectangular screen that projected a face many were unfamiliar to, but not Ike and especially not Terra.

"General Leo!" She cried in happiness. Yes, she had been told the man that had looked over her ever since she was forced into the Empire was saved by Ike by the man in question and all that, but nothing exceeded the joy of seeing him alive and well. His face still had some noticeable scars, but he seemed healthy enough.

"Hello Terra. Words cannot express how happy it makes me to see you safe." The man replied with a tender look only a paternal figure could give.

"General! Sir!" Shinryu, Celes, Ramza, Agrias and Mustadio exclaimed, saluting one of the few people they were proud of having served under during their stay in the Empire.

"Enough with the formalities children. I'm not your general anymore… yet." Well, the phrase at first didn't make much sense but they quickly got what he meant. "But, as much as I'd love to catch up with my former protégées, I need to give you a vital piece of information, as well as ask you a favor." The former God General asked, to which everyone on the ship truly stopped snickering and listened, the tone on Leo's voice being enough to warrant a silent moment. The screen cut itself in half to show the face of the human porcupine, Zack Fair. "This, is Zack Fair. He was the other God General that opposed Mateus' intentions fiercely. Like me, he was incarcerated. His death sentence though, was only decided now. This is because the Returners are being actively assaulted on the borders, making them unable to reach the place where the death sentence is to be executed on time."

"Him too?!" Terra gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. No one could forget Mr. Zack "Will you date me?" Fair, especially not someone as timid as her. Of course, he showed everyone who got to know him, or even see him, he had a genuinely good heart… that didn't fly in Mateus' plans.

"Yes. He is being sentence to death by spectacle at the Coliseum. He's being set as an example in front of his own people. We all know Zack was easily the people's most beloved God General and his death will make it so there won't be any defaults on their ranks like what happened in Tellius… You can probably see what I am going to ask of you now." The general confessed.

"Did it once already. What's the problem with doing it again?" Ike immediately replied, much to Leo's satisfaction, the whole crowd nodding in response.

"I can't thank you enough Ike, but you don't seem the type who needs to be thanked. I'll transmit the coordinates on the map to your ship. The Dragon's Neck Coliseum is at the northern end of the Empire, on the rare peninsula of the mostly grounded country. Be careful though, we have no idea of who is attending." With that warning given, Balthier smirked as he saw the numbers appear in the screen. This would be so good for his reputation…

* * *

Dragon's Neck Coliseum. Competitors lodging, 24 hours later:

"Well, I guess this is it, huh? Our time to shine!" Zack exclaimed, finishing his squats and jumping up and down. They had been taken to a room with nothing in it but a couple of benches, given small rations of food and were promised their weapons back and even their horses t battle. However, this was still and execution and Zack's optimistic attitude had finally warranted a question from the former Duke of Pherae.

"Zack, even for you this optimism is just too much. They are about to pit us against beasts and men until we lay lifeless on the sands of the coliseum!" But then the former ruler found what he expected to be his explanation. "Do you, perhaps, have a plan?" He asked of Zack, who smiled.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed as he sat down on the floor, restoring hope to the Lycian trio. "If we beat up everything they throw at us, they'll eventually have nothing more to throw and we can just walk out since they already sent any guards on the vicinity after us by then." Needless to say, his explanation didn't sit that well.

"To be fair… he didn't say anything WRONG." Mark pointed out, but as we all know, his analysis wasn't what was wrong.

"True. What he said was something IMPOSSIBLE." Marcus spat, ready to get into a heated argument.

"Maybe." Zack said, completely cutting Marcus' vibe with his slightly downed tone. It was at that time the other three realized just what Zack was going through. He was the kind of person to keep that optimistic facet up, no matter what. "That's no reason for us to cry in a corner while they slaughter us. If there's a wall that can't be broken, you climb over it!" He exclaimed, getting up from his sitting position on the ground. "If there's no road, we just make our own! If there's a dead end we find another way! There's no merit to giving up, EVEN if we go down, we're going to show them exactly just what they are messing with. Even if we cut a fingernail in the body of the Empire, that's still better than to sit and die!" He exclaimed, voice filled with a raw emotion that entered the wills of anyone on the vicinity, lighting their spirits on fire. Eliwood chuckled.

"You remind me of Hector… Very well, let's give them one last show. A flame burns the brightest before being consumed." With that, he picked himself up from his bench and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I have to thank you… I had a fire inside me that needed embers." They both smiled at each other, Marcus and Mark joining in on the preparations before the door opened.

"It's time Zack." Aerith told in a tone that was more akin to a flood of sorrow. You could see in her eyes just how much it pained her to do this, especially since her and Zack had been an item before… well you'll discover that eventually, won't you?

"Alright! Let's get it own. Where's my claymore?" Zack asked her, who beckoned to follow her. They went through the hallways filled with the foul stench of blood and gore, for most of the gladiators would only have a round per day, returning to their cells with whatever wounds they had sustained. Most did not survive. Eliwood was disgusted by this, even if they were criminals, they were treated worse than cattle, the damned souls now looking at the four presentable men with a sickening joy that came from watching others suffer their eventual fate. They eventually saw the end of the tunnel, their horses with their respective weapons tied to them. Silently, Eliwood and Marcus climbed onto their horses while mark retrieved his various weapons from them, he's a tactician, he can canonly use most weapons. The one left in the dust however… was Zack. "Hey, Rith! What about me? I just wanted a standard claymore, was that so much to ask?" The woman shook her head and pointed to his back. A massive broadsword, almost as large as her was leaning against the wall. It seemed to be more like butcher knife with two circular holes on the center of the blade, only the handle being extensively decorated with golden inscriptions.

"That's your weapon Zack." She told him.

"But… I passed it onto him." Zack replied, touching he blade and looking at it as an old friend it were.

"Angel gave you the Buster Sword on his deathbed. Cloud won't take it from you any other way. Until you die, the sword's yours Zack." She confessed, knowing exactly just how close the sword could be from being… passed on. Zack chuckled.

"Well, let's get one last bit of wear, tear and rust on this thing, shall we?!" He exclaimed, rising the sword over his head, spinning it and sheathing on his back. With a last smile, he turned his back on the woman and walked over to his fellow death row inmates.

"Zack…" Aerith gasped, trying to reach Zack one last time. He turned his head and she realized how pathetic she looked. With that huge smile that characterized him, he said.

"I won't die here Rith. Maybe my body will, but I won't. Go back to Cloud, he needs you right now, I'm sure." His smile never faltered. He gave her a thumbs-up and nodded to Eliwood, walking into the sunlight. Aerith just stood there, speechless.

"Sometimes I wonder… if the obviously winning side is worth playing for." A woman's voice came from her side, the white feathered armored woman appearing on Aerith's side.

"I honestly… don't know anymore Claire. I just…" Aerith realized a lone tear had made its way from the corner of her right eye. She quickly scrubbed it off and hid her emotions as best as she could. "… don't know."

* * *

Zack could hear the crowd cheer as they entered the arena. Not all of it mind you, about half of it was silent, but every single one of the noble seats was rejoicing. Typical nobility. The arena was nothing but sand and the coliseum was just how you'd imagine it, including the throne on the center of the stands. Sitting on it was none order than the Emperor, his trusted guard that went by the name of Gabranth standing by his side.

"AH! So the traitors finally step into the arena!" He blared, sitting up from his position and arcing his arms. "I hope you understand the honor that was conceded upon you. Not only will you die to entertain the people of the Empire, you will also be executed in the one way a person can escape!" Of course Mateus would rather be dead then to let them escape and nobody had ever escaped the terrors of the coliseum, but the possibility of escaping was still there. They had weapons and all.

"Yeah, yeah Mateus. We get where you're coming from and let me tell you, you're no César." Disregarding the continuity breach, needless to say Zack's comments didn't sit well with the Emperor. No one dared to snicker, but the confidence displayed by the SOLDIER was enough to silence the nobility. They thought he had a plan and while he did not, only the ones who knew what Zack was thinking right now were his closest companions.

"I see you are still the same disrespectful rat you always were. Perhaps it was for that that you gained the commoner's sympathy… rats will live in packs if given the chance." Zack clinched his fist at the supremely smug remark the despot threw, but that didn't translate into his expression. He wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. Grimacing, the Emperor continued: "Very well, I see words aren't enough to make you repent for what you did. Come then! Fight for your freedom! Or don't, either way it shall be entertaining! Release ALL of the gladiators!" He ordered.

"All of them? He surely doesn't mean…" Eliwood knew they would have to fight the entirety of the men locked into the cells eventually, but all at once? Before they knew it, hundreds of formerly caged men rushed in, filling more than two thirds of the outer arena, leaving only a small, circle on the center with them in it.

"I promise you men of the cages, if Zack Fair and his companions fall this day, the remaining men shall be allowed to join my army and be granted freedom!" Well, that was certainly enough to motivate the former criminals. They cried and charged. Eliwood and the rest immediately took battle stance, forming a circle, but Zack had other ideas. He smiled and chuckled, rocking his head from side to side.

*Cue: The Price of Freedom*

"Boy oh boy... the price of freedom sure is steep!" He exclaimed, pull the Buster Sword out of his back and leaning his head against it. "Embrace your dreams and… whatever happens, protect your honor… as SOLDIER! I'll take you all on! COME AND GET IT!" He exclaimed, doing what no sane man would do and charging directly at the crowd of bloodthirsty savages.

"The man's insane!" Marcus exclaimed.

"Aren't we all?" Eliwood asked with a smile, kicking his horse to follow him. Marcus sighed and did the same, Mark having to run to the crowd as well. The onlookers were in shock and awe as the lord and the SOLDIER destroyed the front ranks with their skill and might, the Paladin rode through the units and targeted the archers, his build making it so he could take the arrows as he charged to them, destroying their rear. Mark followed him but instead concentrated on the mages. Being the one with the highest resistance to magic due to his balanced nature, he made quick work out of the mages with his blade before switching to his Elfire tome and rain fire upon the more armored of battlers. As Zack spun in midair and downed three contenders in one swipe of his blade, Emperor Mateus soon realized how futile the gladiators would be in executing the death sentence. After a few more minutes, as the arena was piled with bodies, the metallic stench of blood and gore nauseating the most sensible on it, the Emperor stood, with a booming voice commanding:

"RELEASE THE BEHEMOTHS!"

Silence.

* * *

"It has started." Ashe said, entering the bridge. Fran had been able to enter the Empire's communications channel and managed to infiltrate the live event the people of the Empire were witnessing. Zack's "execution".

"How long until we get there?! Eliwood was sentenced with him!" Lyn shouted as she ran through the ship until she reached Balthier, forcefully taking his head off the horizon and into her eyes.

"Look miss, as much as I love a woman trying so hard for me to give her attention, it would help us both if I was piloting this ship. We should be there in about one hour, I'm already overclocking all systems as is." He replied sarcastically.

"They don't HAVE one hour! You have no idea what they just unleashed on them!" Lyn shouted, completely out of her mind as to what she had just seen Mateus call upon.

"He just unleashed the Behemoths. He does so that he does not have to give the prisoners their promised freedom." He replied in complete apathy.

**SLAP!**

"What if they DIE before we get there?!" The green-haired Blade Lord screeched, retracting her palm from his cheek.

"Then we change our course and head for Esthar." His tone was flat and he treated it with no emotion. Lyn stared at him but felt no rage, just realization. What could they do more? Throw their lives away? She nodded and let Balthier pilot, having to trust in his skills to lead them there in time. "Don't worry though. I'm sure your lover will make it through." Lyn froze.

"He is… was married and he has a child as old as your brother." He stated, stuttering to correct what had happened to poor Ninian. One could consider what she had done a delayed suicide.

"One would say to stop living in the past love." Balthier said, dismissing her and knowing exactly what he had just done.

* * *

Inside a prison:

"How long has it been Seth?" Tattered were this woman's formerly red attire. She was now sporting a ragged dirty skirt, formerly beige, now gray, same fate for her red vest and boots. Her cape had been torn of her back and her body armor now rested on the side the cell. Even her turquoise hair was now more akin to a tangled mess of bluish threads.

"I've been counting the sunsets. Two months Lady Eirika." The knight, who was wearing much simple and darker clothing, didn't show the tear of the imprisonment as she did, yet the wounds of torture were only hidden away by his clothing, one could see them in the gaps he never showed. Eirika knew this, she knew all Seth was doing was hiding his suffering with that stoic facet.

"_Ephraim… where are you? I don't know how much longer Seth can hold on…"_ She pleaded, looking over the knight, who could barely breath after his last session in "The Grinder" as that wretched woman called it. She was broken out of her thoughts when the doors to her cell opened. "You… you're her daughter. What do you want, _princess_?" Months of imprisonment had eroded Eirika's composed tone, at least towards these people. Her voice was full of venom.

"To help you…" She replied, wincing as she looked at Seth's crudely covered wounds on the abdomen. "Follow me."

"And why should we trust you?" Seth asked, carefully sitting up.

"You would prefer to stay in your cell? You hardly seem prepared for this afternoon "session" sir knight." The raven haired woman pointed out, to which Seth conceded.

"Very well, lead the way… princess. Do not believe even for a moment that I trust you however." Eirika made it very clear, not only with words but with her look.

"I wouldn't dream of betraying you." She replied, slipping into a white cowl with red details. "However, until we are safe, call me Dagger." She saw Eirika nod and helped her lift Seth up. They trudged towards the entrance, where someone Eirika recognized as the captain of the guard waited. Was he on her side? "Will you come with me Steiner?"

"You give me no choice. I am your protector above all. Lead the way." The burly man grabbed Seth and put him on a piggyback ride.

"And now… to put what he taught me to use." The raven haired woman told herself, her mind returning to a much happier time with that tailed "performer". And so they ran.

* * *

Dragon's Neck Coliseum:

"Behemoths? So soon?!" Zack Fair, even he was surprised. He would think Mateus would enjoy a more prolonged suffering, but it seemed he wanted to end it as fast as humanly possible. The ten gates to the coliseum all opened, a pair of yellow eyes opening from each and every one of them. A cacophony of roars then filled the arena, the sounds of chains clattering on the ground soon following. The gladiators froze as the ten quadruped beasts flew out of their confinement, landing a few meters from their respective gate. All of them were the same. The purple skinned, four pawed beings whose black horns reminded anyone of a demon, yellow manes and razor sharp teeth. Some even stood on their two hind legs. The monsters were among the most dangerous on the continent, if not THE most dangerous as they were highly intelligent. Only Dragons could dispute that place.

"H-hey! These things don't differentiate! My Emperor… why?!" One of the gladiators shouted at Mateus, who's smiled only grew.

"Take solace in knowing you have died for your country!" He exclaimed as the behemoth's patience wore thin, one of them jumping right to the man who had been the only one to show any kind of action and impaling him with one of its horns, heaving him upwards, the now paralyzed man falling into his maws and into the sweet embrace of death. Then, panic. Some of the gladiators ran, to which they became easy prey, others went for Zack and the company in hopes to kill them and have the Behemoths returned to their cages by the Emperor, something that had never happened while others took one last gamble and charged the behemoths. It was literally their last gamble. In minutes, the coliseum was empty, exceptions made for Zack and his group and nine Behemoths. Two hundred men had been able to defeat only one of the beasts, the other nine approaching Zack and Eliwood with nothing but a ravenous look.

"Any plan?" The lord asked the SOLDIER.

"Kill them dead." Zack replied, waiting for the backup. Suddenly, one of the standing behemoths got hit by a fireball on the back of the head, distracting it and causing it to turn back to his attacker. Zack took this moment to shout and jump on its back, using the fur on its back to climb to its head. There he clung onto the beast as it shook and took his blade into one hand. "Like this!" He shouted, plunging the blade deep into the creature's skull, piercing it's brain and instantly ending its life. The beast fell silent and crashed onto the ground, the tremor being the only thing to be heard as even the Behemoths stared in awe. Zack then removed the blade from its head, stood up on the carcass and roared: "C'mon! Which one of you is next?!" In a way the beasts were left to wonder if they should even attack. The crowd couldn't take it anymore. They cheered. They cared not what would happen to them for they truly admired the courage and will needed to pull off such a feet. Reinvigorated by Zack's victory, Eliwood hit his horse with its spurs, signaling it to stride. He galloped towards the nearest Behemoth and ordered his horse to jump. Just like he once did with the fire dragon, he fell from the skies, plunging his blade unto its skull, as Zack had done, ending the life of it in one sweep.

"Well, I'd say Eliwood's fire is burning again. About time also." Mark mused, dodging one of the beast's claw swipe. Marcus quickly came to his aid, piercing the Behemoth's flank with his blade. The thing was more than annoyed. Roaring in frustration, it called upon the thunder it was said he was born from. "Thunder huh? Elwind!" He chanted, calling upon the winds of his green tome. In a mere fraction of a second he had known just what to use against the thunder, the wind dissipating it and knocking the behemoth back, gaining enough time for Marcus to spear the right side of his neck, Mark doing the same on his left. They nodded at each other and tore the neck open. "Six to go."

* * *

While all of it happened, Mateus turned to the man on his side.

"Hojo… release it!" The scientist could only cackle euphorically.

"As you wish my liege!" He shouted, not hiding his laughter as he made his way into the depths of the coliseum.

* * *

Back in the Arena, the four men seemed to be the first to ever emerge victorious from the Coliseum. Marcus and Eliwood had cut down a behemoth's legs, Mark finishing the falling beast off. Two were left, both of which were assaulting Zack. He jumped onto one's head and turned to the other.

"What's the matter, scared?!" He said in the most mocking tone possible. The smart but still irrational beast took a swing at him with its paw, hitting the other instead. Insulted, the hurt beast roared and impaled the other behemoth's heart with its horns in one mere strike. Zack then proceeded to lop the remaining Behemoth's head clean off before he realized just how it had been tricked. "And that just about wraps things up. Wasn't that hard, now was it?" He asked, his optimism hiding deeper thinking. _"In fact… it was too easy__. This was a challenge made to "normal" people. Why would Mateus not give us a bigger one? He knew that we were years away from __most of__ the gladiators and ten behemoths may be scary for some, but still…" _He was right though. Soon, the ground trembled. "Freaking called it…" He muttered. This time, the enemy didn't come from any of the gates. Hell, it could not have come from them, it was far too big. It came from the ground, following an eruption of azure energy from the other side of the arena. The "being" that that landed in front of Eliwood was a mystery. In one side, it was not much different from a Behemoth. It was a golden beast, with a body much like it's, but contrary to the behemoth it stood on six legs and all of them, including the body and tail, was a bright golden, blue spheres with magical vortexes appearing seldom on the body. Its head lacked any horns, or it seemed like it. The tendrils of energy that erupted from it could be either a mane or an ensemble of horns. But what scared everyone the most was not its physical appearance. No, it was its still sheer presence. One could feel the sheer amount of power that swirled around it. Magic had become palpable and you could both feel and see the strands of mana gravitating towards the creature.

"**BEINGS OF FLESH!**" It… talked. Into the minds of everyone there and everyone watching. "**Mark my name into your minds. I am Ultima! Power both ancient and unrivaled, I do not ****bleed, for I am but strength given form! I am what men thought to be able to oppose gods! Lay down your weapons for your time is nigh!**" The skies seem to tremble at its voice and its mere presence began to take its toll on the less powerful people on the coliseum who fell unconscious by the amazing magical pressure they felt, as if someone was crushing them with only their presence.

"What the hell is this?! And more importantly, how the HELL did Mateus get it?!" Zack exclaimed, taking two steps backwards before shaking his head. "Not important… Eliwood, you feel up to fight this?" He half-hoped Eliwood to be the one to gain courage and lead him on this, but they seemed to be on the same boat.

"I don't. But we have no choice, have we?" The lord replied, tightening his grip on his trembling hand. For once ever since they started to fight, he felt like they truly wouldn't make it out of this alive. The resounding laughter of Mateus proved it. He truly felt like he'd won. Yet… they had one chance. Just one chance. And they would try to take it. "There's no merit to just lay down and die, is there?!" Zack chuckled at the remark.

"Not really… okay, fine. Everyone, prepare yourselves." Marcus and Mark nodded. They had fought the Fire Dragon and the Demon Dragon, but they both knew just how those were babies when compared to this. Only Idoun could really be compared, but even so, she had been defeated by Elibe's seven treasures and the Sword of Seals. Needless to say, they had none of those. Yet, they still readied themselves.

"**FOOLS! YOU TRULY BELIEVE TO EVEN ENCUMBER ME?! Very well, I shall show you the power of the ultimate being!**"

*Cue: A Battle to the Death, FFVI OST*

And so, Ultima leapt directly into them center of the group and while the jump seemed easy to dodge, they did not account that when it landed, the winds it arouse were strong enough to them into the walls. They were now separated and as the predator he was, Ultima turned to the weakest prey, Marcus and Mark to its right. It leapt yet again in their direction, giving Marcus no time to get back on his horse, this time, the jump was directed to him, and it did, his middle left paw crushing Marcus' left leg while Marcus' arm bent in a way it was never supposed to happen.

"Get off my Jeigan you freak! I need him to level the tier one chars!" The tactician shouted, plunging his spear intro the creature's deep blue eye. The spear could not do anything, it broke with the impact.

"**Pitiful…**" Ultima taunted.

"Damnit… take this! Bolganone!" This time, Mark jumped backwards and took a hold of his most powerful fire tome. He hurled a massive blazing sphere at the Weapon in front of him, only to be mocked yet again.

"**You call that magic? I'll show you magic! FLARE!**" A flame sphere many times smaller spewed from his mouth. However, this was enough to dissipate Bolganone explode in a blast that catapulted Mark into the pit. He had the presence of spirit to grab onto the ledge, but not much else.

"Well, how do you like this?!" Zack shouted from above. With all his might, he crashed down on the weapon's head with his blade in-between his legs, doing not much more than to pierce the skin slightly.

"**YOU DARE?!" **Ultima cried in agony. To avoid repercussions, Zack jumped. Yet, he did not expect the tendrils on the head of the beast to serve as tentacles, grabbing his right leg and beginning to pull Zack right into its maw.

"Don't worry Zack!" Eliwood said, flying in between the two combatants to sever the links between them. This did more than annoy Ultima.

"**HUMAAAAAAAAAAANS!**" It cried, tempestuous winds being created by its will, taking Zack and Eliwood skyward without any possibility of response. "**FALL!**" It cast Gravija, a giant ball of dark energy covering the air around the duo and Eliwood's horse. Right after, the increased gravity kicked in, shooting them to the ground as if a missile they were. "**Learn your place fleshlings!**"

"Hey… Eliwood… can you move?" Zack asked, already half-knowing the answer.

"No… it is like my body is covered by a thousand more…" He gasped, struggling to even move his right arm.

"Damn… This is it then, isn't it?" Zack asked himself, looking to Ultima to see how all of his crystals were now shinning in a blaze of light, its maws storing a massive fireball. "Not a very… heroic death." His body was broken yes, but he always imagined going done while taking down hordes of enemies, not being crushed by a thing he didn't even know what it was.

"Zack… get up." Aerith pleaded.

"Zack, move!" Cloud did what none other had the courage to do before him. He shouted his support to him, knowing full well that the Emperor would hear him. Soon, the entirety of the arena was calling out to Zack and Eliwood to move, their shouts trying to empower the two men to vanquish the beast. Zack heard all of it and smiled.

"Sorry guys… but it's not gonna work." He told them with acceptance on his mind and soul.

"**VANISH! FLARE STAR!**"

Time seemed to slow down for everyone watching. They saw what could be described as nothing less than a miniature star being hurled in the defenseless duo.

* * *

"ZACK!" Cloud and Aerith cried, Zack just turned away.

"ELIWOOD!" Lyn, Al and Tiena shouted, cursing inwardly how they would fail for a just a minute or two.

Then, fire.

* * *

Aerith fell to her knees while Cloud punched the wall next to him infuriated. Mateus' maniacal cackle was the only noise filling the air. Then, Gabranth drew his blade, his eyes drifting to the Ultima Weapon. It looked… confused.

"**Who dares?!**" The simple question caused everyone to stop wallowing and instead turning to the smoldering inferno, which was now slowly fading somehow, as if syphoned into… something. Blue cape floating to the wind, matching dark blue armor and tiara, his hair was as red as Eliwood's and his blade to where the flames gravitated was the hilt was exquisitely decorated as it was composed by two golden wings with a red jewel in the middle and two blue markings on the top of each wing, the handle was golden as well but it had a thin line of green in the middle and another ruby on the bottom. The hilt then gave way to a somewhat slim blade, not a rapier's, but not a longsword's either. It had no really special decoration like the hilt, it was just a silver blade with a golden line traversing through the middle of the blade.

"Son…" Eliwood said before falling unconscious.

* * *

"Roy!" Lyn exclaimed.

"Five minutes till we get there!" Balthier shouted.

"I've got a better idea…" Rydia said, running to the hatch.

* * *

"So… you're the one behind all this." The King of Lycia said, gritting his teeth as he pointed the Sword of Seals towards Mateus.

"And you are what boy?" Mateus asked back, his patience wearing thin and composure vanishing.

"One that already rid a continent of someone like you. LILINA!" He called, a small woman in the stands removing her cloak and showing off a book.

"Flames of the inferno itself, consume my foes! FORBLAZE!" The purple haired teen chanted causing a sea of flames to engulf Ultima Weapon and everything behind her, opening a gigantic hole on the coliseum. They knew however, that Mateus wouldn't fall so easily, and because of that, a Pegasus carrying two women entered the now blazing inferno with the despot, who had used some sort of shield to defend himself, in sight. However, as the rider thrust her spear at him, Gabranth appeared from the flames and grabbed it while Lightning erupted from behind, not knowing there was a second rider. Her Omega Weapon clashed with none other than the Armads, the Demon Fighter then throwing her back and jumping off the Pegasus with her.

"Florina, you take the armored guy, I take the woman." Echidna of the southern isles told the former Duchess of Ostia. The timid woman nodded and began exchanging blows with Gabranth.

"I'd say the time for you to get to safety is nigh." Out of nowhere, Hojo suggested.

"Maybe so… Curse every single one of these dream filled fools." He sneered, looking onto the Weapon to decide if he needed to call it back or not. He soon realized that he, in fact, did. Roy seemed to be on the receiving end of its attacks, even when a small company of guards jumped off the stands to help him. Aerith and Cloud had vanished while Zack even helped Roy. However, the deciding turn was Bahamut landing. When the Dragon King erupted into the scene, slamming unto the ground, even Ultima took a step back. From His back jumped Ike and a few more, all of it causing Mateus to take the reasonable way out. "Ultima! Remove our allies from this place at once!" The thing looked to him, bowed and it was down. One moment the fighting was beginning to erupt, the other… silence.

Lyn was the first to talk. She walked up to Roy and hugged the boy.

"I'm so glad you came when you did!" She exclaimed, pulling back. "You always had a penchant to be a hero… arriving right in the nick of time."

"Well, I wouldn't say that… but if you say so Lyn." The teen replied, scratching the back of his head.

"ROY!" Al shouted, tackling him to the ground. "Nice save!" He exclaimed.

"Haha. Thanks Al." Roy thanked, doing his best to get the overhyped Duke off him. "Now… would you please get off?"

"So… I guess you can tell us about your "real" past now, can't you Lyn?" Ike asked after being told from Elincia that Eliwood, Mark and Marcus would live.

"I should… shouldn't I?" Lyn replied, embarrassed of not having told anything even after all this time.

"HEY! Are you Ike?!" Zack said, crashing onto the scene. Ike could only nod. "When I get back into shape, I demand a duel! I want to feel how strong the guy who beat Sephy is!"

"Sure, I'm up for a fight any day!" Ike exclaimed back. Sparring was second only to food for him after all.

Finally, the Rosa arrived, landing outside the now deserted coliseum. It took a bit of convincing to get Roy and the small army he brought with him to actually follow them, but they trusted Lyn enough to follow her.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Intermission**

******Ike Saves Christmas… Sort Of**

* * *

"So much for "the best pilot in the Returners"." Ashe admonished, regarding their situation as certainly not the best.

"Look, I warned you how the mountains around Narshe are considered unflyable, but we had no choice, the Empire is surrounding Esthar." Balthier excused.

Truth was, they had tried to fly over the Narshean peaks to avoid encountering any empirical forces after their little "meeting" on Dragon's Neck. Of course, Lady Luck is kind of a bitch if you've played any Fire Emblem, especially when you get crited at 1% chance… Anyways, I would have to inform you that they found themselves in a blizzard. No matter how much Balthier, Nono and even Vaan tried, no airship could fly in a Narshean blizzard. Eventually, they were forced to make a "not-so-perfect" landing. At first, all seemed well enough, some were roughed up, but the ship was MOSTLY fine. Until Nono discovered a massive leak on the oil tank. It was fixed yes, but now they didn't have oil to operate the ship. The crystal could provide power to the engine, but if the engine blew up halfway the end-result would be the same. Solution?

"Well, at least we landed near Narshe. They are famous for their oil." Vaan said, to which Ashe scuffed and replied:

"YOU piloted us here. HE did nothing." She told him with a small hesitation. Truth was, Vaan was the person with the idea to land near Narshe. Normally, they would stray away from civilization, but his argument was solid this time.

"Hum… thanks?" He couldn't decipher is she had said that to insult him or compliment him.

"Well, the moogles are the ones working in the mines. I can take some there. Too many would attract unwanted attention." Terra offered, further explaining. "It's not unusual for a small group to travel to Narshe to buy a barrel or two of their oil for private airships. One barrel lasts for a year if you use a good crystal to power the airship."

"Well, that makes sense. Take Shinryu and… Ike and Eli should go. Go now! I don't like snow, I had enough of it in Daein!" Yune, which by the way, had finally accepted that being a bird sucked and as such was now walking around like a little girl, ordered, halfway through switching from a normal speech to her usual bratty one. Before Ike and Elincia could question her questionable choice, she teleported them out to the freezing cold outside. "Well now, what do we do?"

"Psh, I dunno. I wasn't expecting to be alive at Christmas time, much less to be stuck on an airship on the Eve of it." Zack answered, putting on a hat fit for the time.

"Chris-what?" Micaiah asked the man.

"Wait, you don't know what Christmas is?" He was met by a wave of negative answers. "Well…"

* * *

"And that's what is celebrated on this day." Shinryu finished, much to the skepticism of Ike and somewhat Elincia.

"So… you are telling me that in your continent there is a magical old guy that rides on a sleigh that flies, aided by FLYING REINDEERS that, in a mere night, delivers presents to all the good people that believe in him?" Ike summarized. Well geez, it sounded kinda stupid when someone put it like that.

"Well, don't put it against me, it's what happens." Shin replied.

"Normally, I'd tell you that you were more full of it than the nobles of Crimea… but I've flown on boats and I have a stone which teleports to my possession every time I get more than ten meters away from it. I am truly willing to accept everything now." Elincia told him, resigned. "Terra?" She called, noticing how quiet Terra had been throughout the small walk and how she had now stopped, staring at the distance.

*Cue: Terra's Theme*

"Nothing… just some memories." She dismissed, continuing to walk.

"She was staring at the city, wasn't she? But… why?" Ike asked himself, the sound of the blizzard stopping Terra, who was a bit far away, from listening.

"She was born in Narshe. She lived there before…" Shin stopped there. They knew already.

"Oh… Should we pay a visit before entering the mines?" Elincia asked, but apparently, they were not going unnoticed.

"NO!" Terra shouted in a strange outburst. "I don't want to… bring them into this. Narshe was always neutral and if they see me, they might want to help me. They aren't warriors, but they are good people. I would only be bringing suffering to them." She told them in a saddened voice. She wanted to see the people she grew up with before Kefka took her away, but their safety was first.

"Okay Terra. Lead us to the mine then." Shinryu told the reminiscent woman as he wrapped his right arm over her shoulder and smiled to her before she got too deep into her memories. If there was something Terra was fragile in, it was her past. You handled her past as you would a glass, one slip and it could break. She smiled back and nodded, now eager to meet her moogle friends. She lead them to a mountain to the side of the small town.

"Here it is." Terra said, stopping in front of… nothing really.

"What? It's just a moun-" Ike would eat those words. The esper girl reached for a strange rock and turned it to the side, a giant one lodging itself upwards to reveal a secret passage. "Nevermind…"

* * *

They strode on the dimly lit caverns, doing nothing but to follow Terra, for not only did she know the way, but she also used her magic to light the tunnel. They eventually reached a great open room with straw and decorations. Terra stopped.

"Mog? Molulu? Mogohan?" She called, getting no response. "Everyone?! It's me! Terra!"No answer.

"You won't find them here Miss…" A voice responded from the corner of the room. Terra looked to the side and saw an elder sitting against the wall in tattered drapes, clinching to his stomach. "They were kidnapped by the Grinch. If you would help me stand… I could lead you to its lair."

"That's terrible! Please, do take us to this "Grinch's" lair… yet, I haven't seen you before. You are?" Terra asked, knowing all the elders by heart, he did not recognize the pale bearded man.

"Nicholas. I came to Narshe a couple of years back and I do not recall seeing you, so it is a pleasure… Terra was it?" They finished their introductions while Ike and Shin helped the burly man up. By leaving eh mines and going into the mountain immediately, they avoided townsfolk, who stayed at home during blizzards. They reached the peak of the mountains, a seemingly bottomless cliff on the edge. "As far as I know, they were brought into the caves bellow. It will be dangerous to follow…"

"But we will. Return to the city Nicholas, we'll save them no matter what." Terra assured, lifting herself in the air and casting float on the party, descending into the unknown.

"And I'm sure you will. You've been nothing but a nice girl all year…"

* * *

The cavern was dark and foreboding but not much else, it seemed to be mostly normal. Still, they had no idea where to look for.

"Well, we better start looking." Ike said, taking a step forward at the same as Shin did. "Let's go that waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay." The ground beneath them had crumbled and they had fallen. Seconds later, the impact was heard with a mighty cry of pain as Ike hit the ground. And another one when Shinryu hit him.

"Sir Ike! Are you well?!" Elincia cried, kneeling by the hole.

"Yeah… just sore. This seems to be a completely different tunnel though. We'll search here and you search there. Meet back here in half an hour. Do NOT get lost!" Ike urged, the women agreeing. "Let's go Shin." And so they walked, descending he tunnel further and further. Soon, they found it… not the moogles though.

"What the heck is…?" Ike began.

"TONBERRIES!" Shin cried in despair. "RUN!" And they ran from the ridiculously small creatures.

* * *

Elincia and Terra however, found something much more interesting on the very next room. Without any explanation, as they entered the room, the scenery changed dramatically. Light was now in abundance, displaying what Terra couldn't believe it was.

"A… toy factory?! No… this can't be. This factory is…" She gasped. It was true. Mountains of already wrapped gifts towered, Christmas decorations all over it. Machines also were in abundance. There was just one thing missing. Workers.

"Terra, if I'm not wrong, this is exactly what you described as Santa's workshop." And Elincia was right. It was just like the fairy tales. Now, Santa was established as real long ago in her world, but to see this… Terra felt privileged like no other. Yet…

"Mog?!" She saw a familiar shape run up to her and hug her leg.

"I knew it! I smelled you! Thank the crystals you are here Terra! Please… help us! That green goon has trapped the rest in this factory!" The furry thing Terra would normally drown in a hug pleaded. Hugs could wait. Terra heard a loud cackle.

"You call me a green goon for crying out loud! The Grinch is an octopus and for that he is proud!"

* * *

"Okay, dead end…" Ike stated as they arrived at, you guessed it, a dead end. They looked back and saw the Tonberries approach. They didn't look frightening, but if Shin was so afraid of them, Ike didn't feel the need to try his luck. However, there was something weird with the wall. It was no wall, the lack of lighting had tricked him. It was… a cell.

"Oh look, our saviors are here. Now, if you would break the sealing locks we would cheer. We cannot use magic from the inside you see… so you saving us would fill us with glee." Ike heard a voice say from the other side of the cell. He looked to Shin and he looked back to him in a look that said "I'll take anything over Tonberries."

"Will you help us if we let you go?" He asked, to which the voice answered with a haughty laughter.

"OHOHOHOHO! Don't worry pup! I'll blow them right up!" Normally Ike would not trust such a crazed voice so easily, but well, those knives seemed sharp. With one blow of the Ragnell, the magical lock crumbled. From there two people left. One was a small woman, blond with pigtails and the other had lavender hair and was quite tall really. Both however, had very strange ears, certainly not a beorcs…"Thank you! And the rest of you can go into my stew!" With a snap from the woman's finger, the five Tonberries were launched into the air, breaking the ceiling and into the heavens. Ike stared at her, dumbfounded as the woman laughed again. "I see you are surprised. Its normal, my appearance makes sure my power is guised. Well, I am Shantotto, leader of Santa's Workshop but I also am a mage of caliber top!"

"Yuppers! And I'm Prishe! She does the paperwork, I'm the boss of the practical side!" The taller woman greeted, the apt on the back she administered throwing Ike face-first into the ground.

"You… Santa... what?!" Too much information for Shinryu's brain to process. Ike's brain just didn't process stuff.

"Shh… we are in a pinch. We'll talk after we find the Grinch." Still confused as all hell could be, both men just nodded and followed, knowing that they at least were searching for the same person.

* * *

"Why is an octopus out of the sea… and talking?" Elincia asked in disbelief. "And why is it painted green?!"

"Oh, you see, I am not a normal octopus. No, I am Ultros!" Vague explanation at its best, but oh well, not like was ever explained anyway.

"Why did you kidnap the moogles? And what are you doing in Santa's Workshop?" Terra demanded to know.

"It is all that liar's fault! Every single Christmas I got coal like I was some kind of dolt! So I took his workers for a forced time out to see how his beloved children like their present drought!" He accused. "And when I asked him why he told me a lie. Lecherous was all he had to say. Well, I don't see where those accusations lay. So I took his workers for a forced time out to see how his beloved children like their present drought" As if on cue, Terra felt something… gooey going up her legs. She didn't even look down, she summoned the Lightbringer and sliced at it. Ultros cried in terror and pulled away.

"You were just feeling me up!" She accused, pointing her blade at the octopus. "You're every bit as bad as he said he was!"

"Don't be like that my babies! Uncle Grinch knows how to please ladies! Now let us put our differences aside and see how the holiday goes down the slide!" The strange beast offered, Elincia and Terra both shivering at what he might be thinking.

"First, we are taken." Elincia shot her a glare. "Yes. We. Second, all the children and even the adults should to get what they deserve! We won't let you ruin it just because of a grudge!"

"Well, I'll just have to apply a bit of logic to this you know? Tangled girls can't say no!" He exclaimed as he lashed out with his deceptively big tentacles. Elincia and Terra took battle position but it was not needed, as the tentacles stopped before they became a threat.

"Stop right there criminal scum!" Shantotto cried from the entrance to the room.

"The Doctor's here to kick your bum!" Prishe completed. Shantotto could never be without rhyme.

"How are you here?! I thought that magic lock would steer you clear!" The Grinchctopus exclaimed, fear staining his voice.

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. I'd be more concerned on how to make me believe you'd taste badly on my Tonberry stew." The grouchy woman spouted. Ultros looked at Ike, who had arrived just now and screamed.

"Curse you! My whole scheme you just blew!" He knew for a fact Shantotto couldn't have released herself.

"Time is quick to fly! Get ready to kiss the sky!" Shantotto warned, preparing her magic.

"Well, I'd say it is time for this old Octopus to flee. But remember, you haven't seen the last of me!" And with that, the beast tried to turn tail and run… it didn't work. Before he could get far, he was being shot out of the cavern, leaving nothing in the sky but a twinkle.

"Well, that takes care of that. Now to get this operation up and running again in no time flat…" Shantotto said in mild despair, the chances of getting all of it to work before midnight weren't fair… narrating this is making me rhyme too… curse you Christmas specials!

"Don't worry my little chief, leave that to me!" A familiar voice resounded.

"Nicholas?" Asked Ike, seeing the same man arrive with the nine other moogles in tow.

"Claus." Shantotto corrected, much to the disbelief of anyone in the room but her and Prishe.

"You just had to ruin my disguise, didn't you?" The burly man asked with glee, his vests suddenly transforming into those you know and love. "Well, hello my children! I am Santa Claus. Some of you have only heard me recently but that doesn't matter, I love you all equally! Hohohoho!" Contrary to your belief, that rhyme was not to continue the trend.

"I… can't believe I'm looking at THE Santa Claus!" Shin exclaimed like he was a little boy.

"Oh but you are! I can't dally though, we have a Christmas to prepare and only two hours to spare!"

"Well… what the heck, we'll help!" Ike offered.

* * *

And so they worked and worked. Picking up all the presents and putting it on the man's never filling bag. When they finished, it was nearly time and all of them were exhausted, especially the elder saint.

"I am getting too old for this…" He worried he could not drive the sleigh this night. But then he had a brilliant idea. "Ike and Elincia, I never knew of your world until now so, will you accept the present to be a very special night out? What do you say to bringing every household in the continent the joys of the holiday? Don't worry, I'll explain what you should do as you go. I'd wager you'd like to cross the skies in a flying sleigh!" Elincia just blushed, but Ike? Ike was freaking excited.

"I get to ride a sleigh and drop presents? I'm in!" Maybe he was a bit too eager to do it, but Elincia wouldn't just say NO to a night alone with Ike of all people.

"If it will bring solace to the deserving… I'd like to see this tradition come true from now on." She agreed to do it, much to the old man's happiness.

"Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Now I can be sure the joys will be shared by all. Who knows, maybe next year I'll cover all of the continents. Now, let us get you into that sleigh." Santa said. At the first bell of midnight, the sled left the workshop and into the skies, but we'll follow it shortly, for now, let us focus on those who were left behind.

"Now, I may be old, but there is still one present I was able to give!" The jolly old man exclaimed. "Terra, my girl… this is yours! Hohohoho!" Terra looked around and saw that they were no longer standing on the workshop, but on the center of Narshe. And boy oh boy was the town square lively. A giant table where both townspeople and her companions ate, a giant karaoke stage where Zack was busy singing "All I want for Christmas is you" which he directed to every female that passed, and, most importantly, she felt a kind hand touch her shoulder. Turning, she crossed gazes with Banon, the mayor of Narshe.

"Welcome back my child." A simple, yet perfect gift. As Banon professed hose words, the entire town took notice of her, pulling her into the festivities, sharing their experiences for the past years, remembering the five years Terra spent in Narshe. The one crowd the young woman did not fear to be a part of.

"I can't believe you weren't going to pay us a visit!" One of her next door neighbors, a black-haired woman called Luna cried.

"I didn't want to get you in danger…" She replied.

"Well, joke's on you then. You wouldn't have been able to stop it." Another woman said, much to her confusion.

"What Mika means is that the town had already signed a trade contract with Esthar. We're the caravan." Sol, her other neighbor explained. "I'm in charge of magic tomes. Luna's in charge of weapons. Sis is items and Marcus is there for reforging and storage." He pointed at the silver-haired man butting heads with Shin.

"You were so eying her!" Shinryu accused.

"And what if I was?!"

"I'd have to…"

"Boys… do you know what day it is?" Terra asked with that heart melting smile, quickly cooling off what was to be the first of many fights between them.

* * *

Fortunately, it was the last of the night. Partially because of how strong the eggnog was. Joy and sharing was the motto of the night and it went out without a hitch, even if people like Shinon had to get drunk on purpose to cope with the atmosphere.

Our other two heroes, whose task was monumental were having the time of their lives, ridding magical sleight pulled by reindeers while jumping into people's houses. They laughed, they talked and even enjoyed the silence in that never-ending night. No, Elincia was not able to finally come out and say it, but she was able to come to terms on how she had to say it sooner than later. Ike? Well, let's just say that even for one with the head of a rock, he realized there was something different about having that one woman around. Maybe, just maybe, this could work out.

"But that is a story for another time, isn't it? For now, I am sure you have families to be with, presents to give and joys to share. And that is why I am going to make this quick! To all I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!" And what do you know? Even Santa could break the fourth wall once in a while. Well, this is a narrator, wishing you happy holidays! We'll be back next year for more!

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**What can I say? I LOVE Christmas! I hope it was at least enjoyable for you to see me tackle the Grinch in my own way. And yes, Ultros won't be a one-time appearance. You know how he is in VI… Anyway, the Special was something I threw in for Christmas' sake. What I'd like your opinions on was the chapter itself. Again, anything you'd like to say about both these chapters, I'd love to hear it. For now though, happy holidays and stay good! Now... back to Tales of Graces I go.


	13. Esthar, the City of Progress

******Author's note:**I failed the deadline by one day… look, I had the flu, I couldn't write yesterday. This is partially why this chapter is only 6K words long. Still it has everything I wanted to be in. Next chapter will be much longer so for now read on.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 2: The Leonhart Rebelion**

**Chapter Thirteen**

******Esthar, the City of Progress**

* * *

Time has surely passed since our last adventure, has it not? Well, it WAS a double feature, so please, give us some slack… Moving back to the story, we now find our heroes back in the ship towards Esthar, fresh from Narshe. Ike was… not entertained.

"What do you mean I can't go train?" Ike asked Micaiah, who stood her ground in-between Ike and the training facilities on the ship.

"You are in charge of this excursion are you not? Show some responsibility and go meet the new convoy! We might need their specialized gear. I talked to Terra and she assured me that since the Narshean mines are the richest in the continent, along with its neutrality to all nations, their shops are among the best. Get to it, we might need them!" She exclaimed in true ruler fashion, stomping the ground and pointing Ike towards the opposite direction of the training facilities. Ike could only sigh and leave, no one could talk Micaiah out of something when she got her mind into it, especially after she got crowned. She was just a stubborn old hag… with the body of a teenager. Ike wasn't sure if being Branded offset that advantage.

* * *

Of course, he went to find his crew to evaluate the shops. Okay, he went to find Soren, but every time he met someone, they would offer to go too. He ended up with more than a handful of people.

"I NEEEEED a new sword!" Mia whined, Ike just sighing and also letting her join in. He felt lucky to see how they had arrived at the center of the aircraft. A plaza. Don't act surprised, the Rosa Brilliante WAS the size of a small village, with over two hundred meters in length, it was twice as big as a soccer field. It was also not a full-fledged combat ship, it was, in its design, a ship made for battles far away from homeport, even long ones like sieges. People would have to live in this ship. Anyway, they looked around and eventually found what seemed to be one of the four story buildings converted into a shop, the words "Narshean Blizzard" dangling from the top of the entrance. Ike wondered how they managed to do it in like, a day, but he decided to not question yet any further and walked in.

"Well, I was wondering when you'd walk in." The brown haired man in a robe they had met on Narshe "welcomed", it was more like a "Soren" welcoming. "About time."

"Hey Soren. You and that guy are going to get along juuuuuuuust fine…" Mia groaned to her side, to which Soren shot her a glare before continuing. He analyzed his surroundings to find nothing more than books. Books, books and more books. He had to admit… this was his kind of room. Or it WOULD be if there was any sort of order! There were just book piles everywhere, maybe they didn't have book shelves yet, but seriously, that store was a mess.

"I do expect your services to be of a greater quality than your pristine arrangement of the store." Soren told him in true grouchy fashion, crossing his arms in waiting.

"From what they told me, you won't be casting spells if it's not for me, so I'd not antagonize me if I were you." He replied, to which Soren only cringed, Mia giggling from the side.

"Fine. Just show me your tomes. I hope you were informed about how we deal with magic on Telius." Sol nodded and opened a large tome to reveal a glyph on each of the pages with a spell-name marked on top of it.

"This is your technology, isn't that right?" Soren nodded at Sol's question. "Well, to put I bluntly, it sucks. Minus the blessed book you were given, whose destruction is far too big for you to use normally, your books lose one glyph per usage, right?" Again, Soren nodded. "Well, here it is." He pulled out a much smaller book, it was really like, twenty pages long at most. "These tomes contain each and every spell of a specific element. Even better, they draw the energy from you and not themselves, meaning they won't become useless in-battle. They can be customized to fit the preferences of a user also, putting in any spells you want. Price varies of course." Even Soren was impressed, not that he showed it, he just nodded grouchily.

"That may be so but I see a flaw in your logic." Lethe looked at the side and saw how she was missing the one thing she was forced to promise to take care off. Sighing, she saw Cuore sitting on top of the biggest pile of books in the room with a massive tome in hands. "Why draw glyphs like this when you can do ones like…" She turned the book to reveal one that was easily ten times more intricate. "This?"

"What… what does that do?" Sol asked curiously. He had never seen a glyph like that in his whole life.

"Well, this makes it so the magic comes from the mana in the air, not from the body, minimizing the throughput needed to cast the spell while also thoroughly increasing the output by about sixty-seven percent." Ike didn't even try to pretend he knew what was going on, but by the face on Soren and Sol, he realized it was something big.

"That means that we can… potentially use spells for the first hour of a battle before the mana becomes too rare around us, but then also use our own inner supplies of it to cast spells… How did you know this? This is the Holy Grail of magic!" He pointed out, staring at the girl in disbelief.

"All empirical knowledge available to the Empire is engraved in my brain. I merely had to recall it. However, I do not have the information needed to draw glyphs of Telian variety. I'd ask Soren to stay with us as we design them." The girl asked, vanishing from where she was to materialize on the table next to Sol. In mere moments, both the bookworms rushed to the table and began hasty discussions on mana currents, air scarcity and how to optimize casting speeds. Ike took that as his cue to keep walking. Soren couldn't be snapped out of Book-Mode.

* * *

The upper floor was much tidier surprisingly. It was a simple textbook armory, nothing much yes, but it served its purpose. All kinds of weaponry were on display, from vulgar longswords to custom Halberds. On the right of the room, polishing one particular katana was the weapon dealer, the raven haired girl that introduced herself as Luna.

"Oh, hey, didn't see you there! I take it you already left your bookworm with my bookworm?" She asked, already predicting why Sol hadn't accompanied them up. Ike shrugged and nodded. "Well, I'm Luna. I sell weapons. Sharp weapons." She spun around the shop, showcasing the katanas and swords, the more standard ones "Blunt weapons." Blunt weapons weren't something Telians used a lot, so seeing flails, maces and such was strange for most of the crew. "Magical weapons, you name it!" Now THIS rounded up some attention.

"Magical weapons? You sell them just like that?" Elincia questioned, surprised at how the magical weapon part of the shop was just as big as the normal side.

"Aye. Mithril is pretty much as common as iron in Narshe, put that together with how the magical properties of the metal are second only to Adamantium and Orichalcum… if Orichalcum really exists that is, you can see why we have such ease in creating magical weapons." Luna explained. It made sense for the most part, in Tellius, you'd need an enormous amount of time to make ONE Sonic Sword due to how resistance metal was to being enchanted. Since Mithril seemed to drink magic and how magic was much better handled here, it made sense for enchanted weapons to be common place.

"How do these work?!" Mia asked, excitedly swinging a normal-looking katana with a wave design on the blade.

"Mia, stop being a kid!" Stefan ordered his student, parrying the sword with his Vague Katti, only to have a deluge of water explode from the katana and knock him to the ground, wetter than a fish and more confused than he had ever been on his life. Mia exploded into laughter, clutching her stomach from too much stimulation.

"As you can see, you just have to hit someone. They take some time to recharge though." Luna pointed out, still giggling from the incident.

"Can I take this one Ike?! Huh? Can I? Pleaaaase!" Mia begged, clutching the katana to her chest.

"Fine… I'll subtract the gold from your paycheck though." This seemed to bum out Mia, but Luna stepped in.

"Don't worry 'bout that. You're my first customers, you can have the Murasame." She offered, snatching the sword from Mia to sheath it. "On ONE condition!" She told the Trueblade, who was already slobbering over her acquisition.

"What?" Mia asked.

"Simple. I always wanted to join the army. I want to spar with you to gauge just how much better I need to go." Ike felt sorry for her. He truly did.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" And they vanished, Mia pulling the poor woman by her wrist into an unrelenting spar no one that didn't know Mia would expect.

"I suppose we should just go up, huh?" Ike asked the leftovers of his group, Elincia, Stefan and Lethe.

* * *

They went up the stairs once more, this time finding what could only be described as the worst shopkeeper they had encountered. The shop was decent and all, with the staves displayed in shelves on an organized manner, all the items catalogued and all, but the blonde haired woman was sleeping on top of the counter. Not her head, her whole body. She snored too. Lethe was the most annoyed by this, you know how Laguz are about their work ethics. She coughed while standing above her head. Nothing.

"Beorc! You have costumers in waiting!" Lethe blared, snapping Mika from her trance, at least somewhat. She looked over to her in glazed eyes and mumbled.

"A cat-girl…? I hadn't had these kind of dreams in like… weeks." She then proceeded to grab Lethe by the neck and tried to pull her in for god knows what. "Let's start with a little smooch, shall we?" This made Lethe snap, as it was to be expected. She grabbed the shopkeeper's head, swung her entire body around as she held onto it and then threw her directly into the staves. "Damn… even my dreams are kinkier than I am." Elincia then offered her hand, against her better judgment. "Uuh! Two? I like where this is goi… wait, two guys? OH! Oh… ooooh…" She took a good hard look at Ike and Stefan, both of which were without words, then proceeded to take another look at Lethe, fire and brimstone burning inside the Laguz's eyes. "This is real, huh?" Elincia nodded." Oh right! This is Narhsean Blizzard! We sell… stuff I think! Potions, Ethers, Staves! If it's an item, we have it! Just not Mega-Elixirs. Those would break the ga-" She stopped herself before she hit an imaginary wall.

"Ooookay then… we better leave before this gets any worse…" Said Ike, slowly backing away. They all did so, just to make sure Lethe wouldn't maim anyone that day, but, as they were reaching the stairs.

"Oh my god this is real!" Ike turned to see Mika rubbing her face in Lethe's tail. "So fluffy!" She had just opened a large can on HELL. She opened her eyes to see not a cat-girl, but a giant cat, one that had blood in its sights. "I regret nothing." And then she was off, surprisingly fast enough to evade Lethe, but also too fast for our heroes to try and help. They could just carry on.

* * *

The final floor was the forge, and the heat alone was enough to prove it.

"This is extremely impressive when compared to our last convoy." Stefan commented. They arrived at the room where the anvil was situated to find how someone had arrived first.

"Terra, I can't forge anything even CLOSE to this quality. I'm without words… I can't even determine what metal was used in the making of this!" Said the blacksmith Marcus, inspecting the Alondite.

"I don't need something as GOOD, just something of similar weight and size to dual wield." Terra remarked. Marcus scratched his chin and then snapped his fingers.

"I got it! I'll go for an Alastor model. Just make some changes here and then and presto! You want me to use Adamantium?" He asked in an over sympathetic way.

"Don't. Didn't you say you needed Adamantium to fix the Sol Katti?" Terra asked, politely pushing him away much to her boyfriend's relief, he was lurking in the shadows, waiting.

"Oh yes… still, I'll at least coat it in Adamantium." He said, Terra nodded.

"Sol Katti? Wasn't that Lyn's sword?" Stefan asked, being the first to call attention to himself.

"Didn't see you there. Well, yes. She told me she broke it while she…"

* * *

**Flaaaaaashback!**

"Zantetsuken!" Lyn saw two blades coming towards her at a speed so great she knew she no chance to dodge. In one desperate try to survive, she put her Sol Katti in the way. Moments later, half of her blade flew right next to her right check, wounding it before falling down a trench. "You are defeated." Lightning told Lyn, enclosing her neck in-between the curves of the dual blades. "Any last words?" She asked.

"Yes. Just answer my question… Claire." The Blade Lord asked the Valkyrie. She cringed and they were left to trade stares for a few minutes, after which a voice came.

"Madam Lightning, where art thou?" A woman's voice called, the sound of multiple footsteps filling the air. The woman in question took another hard look onto Lyn and shouted:

"The enemy has been slain and I am well!" With that, she removed her blades and helped Lyn onto her feet. "This is my answer." She whispered in her ear right before she kicked in into the river behind her. "I reap what I sow. And I just sew the only seed I could."

**End of that flashback.**

* * *

"Wait… she fought Lightning?" Ike questioned, to which the one who told such tale shrugged.

"Apparently. I wanted to know just how the thing had been broken before I got to work on it. That little story did raise some curiosity, but I can't really say anymore. She didn't tell me." Marcus replied. Even more question Ike now had for Lyn… but they would have to wait.

"Attention all passengers. Your handsome pilot would love to inform you that we'll be arriving in Esthar in about thirty minutes. Please do get ready for landing." Balthier announced in the intercom.

"You'd better get going. I'll see if I can reforge this one and make you a pair on schedule." Marcus said before bidding the crew goodbye.

* * *

"You guys may want to see this!" Bartz exclaimed, calling for the people that hadn't been in Esthar before. Estimated time for arrival was 5 minutes, so they wondered what he wanted. Still, they went to the outside of the ship, and boy were they amazed.

"Is this the sea?!" Exclaimed Terra in disbelief. Truth be told, it was a common mistake. They were indeed flying on top of a mass of water that stretched to the horizon. Locke was quick to dismiss it though.

"The Great Salt Lake. This is one of the reason the Empire does not DARE to attack us. The only way to the city is the lake. This means Airships are the only way for them to attack and obviously Esthar stocked up on anti-air tech, and that is even if they could FIND the city." They were about to ask just why he had said that when they suddenly seemed to enter… some sort of bubble or whatever it was. What was important though? They were now flying in-between skyscrapers.

"What just happened?" Ike asked in disbelief as he saw small airships flying around, which would be hover cars.

"Esthar is the home of the Water Crystal. It's protective bubble stops anyone outside of it from seeing to the inside of it." Vaan explained, looking around and taking a deep breath. "Haven't been in here for a while." All the while though, the Telians couldn't close their jaws due to astonishment.

"All the buildings make our castles look so… insignificant." Micaiah said as she watched the towering skyscrapers.

"These… machines. They take over their horses." Titania said, pointing at the flying cars.

"And there are so many people around here!" Kurthnaga was the one most surprised about this. Even dragons, whose whole tribe lived in one capital city could not even hope to match the amount of people loitering the streets, the tightly fitting skyscrapers, the small houses, the gardens, everything.

"Welcome to modern society. Enjoy your stay." Bartz said, leaving the Telians to the cultural shock. They eventually reached the aerodrome… but that's a story for later. Now? Let's track back to Ivalice, shall we?

* * *

"How long has it been since this war has begun?" Marth wondered from base camp they had established just a few kilometers from the border.

"Two months passed since they shot our messenger." Ogma, the blonde and hardened Hero told the monarch. You could see and feel the wear and tear on everyone in the room, including Marth. His hair now went past his shoulders and covered his eyes, his garb was tattered and multiple bandages covered the former prince.

"Thank God for the rescue staff." Marth said, nodding before standing up. "I still do not understand why they have not even tried to establish diplomatic talks with us. They just keep on attacking." He sighed as he and Ogma walked to the outside. The sights weren't encouraging. Most of his soldiers either stayed in tents, were receiving treatment or just loitered around, mostly sitting in the open. Only he, Ogma and the Female Chris stood.

"My… my lord Marth." She began, clearly trying to hide a bruised ankle.

"Chris, go to a healer, there is no glory in dying in the battlefield for hardheadedness." He ordered. Chris was always like that. She didn't want to be too much of a hassle for healers, even though she was part of the most fragile melee class. Chris and Marth had to practically force her to let a staff near her.

"It's not that. They called for a meeting with you and lord Alm." She explained, instantly gaining Marth's ear.

"Go on…"

* * *

There was a valley in-between both encampments. One that connected both countries. What once had been a simple prairie was now nothing but a sea of corpses and blood. Alm and Marth slowly walked in-between the bodies of friend and foe alike, now with at least some hope they could end this seemingly pointless conflict. They had rescue staves ready to beam them up the moment anything went wrong, but still, this felt intimidating. Right in the center of the battlefield though, they found someone kneeling besides a body. It was an ally's body nonetheless. Said person proved to be a woman once they got close enough to see. She sighed and closed the dead man's eyes, standing up to face the rulers.

"I trust you are the person we should meet." Alm spoke, the woman nodding.

"Firstly… I can only try to apologize. My troops acted rashly and mercilessly but it is not in their nature, it is in their superior's nature to order such a pointless battle to exist." Marth was quite taken aback by this. Most of the generals he encounter, except for Camus, never showed empathy or regret. This woman was in perfect physical condition, meaning she hadn't done anything wrong, but seemed to be the one most sorry for the deaths that had transpired.

"I wish we could delete the past, but that is not to happen. May I ask the reason we are here then?" He asked, going straight to the point. The woman then established eye contact with him.

"To finish this." She replied, arcing her arm around the battlefield. "I have talked with the Ivalician council and have arranged a way to stop this conflict. May I have your ear, your Majesty Marth the First?"

"How do you kno… It is of no consequence. Do speak." In war, spies were inevitable.

"The fighting is taking a tool not only on your army, but on ours too. We are at war on two fronts and for that, most of our army is concentrated in fighting off any sting from the Returners on the other side of our nation. For that reason, your small army has been enough to drastically dent the remaining army. We can both see that the two armies are on their last legs… they will end up destroying one another." All she spoke was true, Marth knew so, but was not sure if the consequences would come to each side. "If we lose such a significant portion of our army here, we will be ill prepared to face the Returners. For that, I propose a more civil conclusion to our dispute."

"Let's hear it." Alm told her. The woman nodded and reached for her belt, pulling out her crystalline blade.

"We shall duel. If I emerge the victor, then you must promise to remove your army from our borders until we contact you." She said calmly, emitting no threat whatsoever.

"What if we win?" Alm asked, reaching for the Mercurius while Marth put his hand around the Falchion's handle.

"If I leave this place in defeat, whatever the circumstances, then we shall retreat and only come to find you in three days if you decide to enter our borders. And that is IF you reveal any hostility, if you do not try to fight us, we shall not be the ones to cast the first stone again." She then did something Marth did not expect. She reached for a second sword.

"This will stop any more pointless bloodshed… for that, I accept your duel! State your name!" Marth exclaimed, the Falchion slicing through the air at his ready.

"My name is Frimelda Lotice, High General of Ivalice's forces. Have at you!"

* * *

And so, we cut back to Esthar.

The Aerodrome was full of people watching from the sidelines as the Rosa took up the space of four Airships. I would not call it being received like heroes, more like being received by a crowd of curious people at best, it wasn't every day that you saw the Dalmascan flagship, which had been stolen by the way, land on your Aerodrome. Fittingly enough, the moment the Telians came out of the craft and looked at the crowd, their thoughts resonated.

"_What the hell are they wearing?"_Both the newcomers and the crowd asked. It was nothing unusual. For us, seeing people dressed like in the medieval age would be strange would it not? And for the ones in the medieval age the same principle could be applied. Still, they mostly ignored the crowd, who also just watched in silence, not knowing if they could trust these guys to make a difference seeing how underdeveloped they were. When they left the hangar, they found one person waiting for them. They had seen him during Bartz's conversations. He was…

"SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!" Bartz and Zidane shouted, running up the stoic looking young man and taking him down in one shot. He was not pleased. "We haven't seen you in AGES! What about it Squally? How's it going? Finally managed to propose? What about Noct, where is he?" Before he knew it, both him and Zidane went flying about ten meters away when Squall kicked them off, slowly getting up and regaining composure in the process. It was far too late for that though.

"Annoyances aside… I don't think introducing myself is really needed as of now, but my name is Squall Leonhart. I am the head of the Returner's military division and the one who wanted to bring you here for help." His detached tone didn't hit home with some people in the crowd, but it wasn't enough to make anyone jeopardize the possibility of allies about it. "In either case, our president wants to speak with you in person, so let's get moving. There are cars on the outside, just get inside them."

"Cars?" Micaiah asked. Squall sighed and replied:

"Think of airships, but smaller." He said, dismissing the doubt and just leading them. A row of cars was there, to which Squall said to take the seats they wanted, he just requested one thing.

"The one in charge… Ike, isn't it? Come with me." Squall called. Ike sighed, praying for the patience to tolerate his cold attitude. "Still… you run monocracy, don't you? I know you have a lot of leaders, but could one?"

"I don't mind!" Elincia exclaimed, almost a bit too promptly. Squall chuckled and said.

"So that's how it is? Fine. Any other? We still have one more place."

"How about a Goddess?!" Yune exclaimed, jumping up and down on Squall's legs. Before he could dismiss that as a joke, Elincia said:

"She really IS Yune." Squall stared at her wide-eyed for a moment then shrugged, telling her to follow him.

* * *

Amazement was in the not-couple faces as they flew through the city. It was so… different from whatever they had seen. Even Ike, this made Dalmasca seem like a rusted old city. The use of water in the city was also prominent, fountains, streams, small lakes within.

"May I ask you something Sir Squall?" Elincia asked, receiving a nod in return. "What is a _President_?"

"The President is the ruling person in the nation. Much like a king really, he has his own council and everything. HOWEVER, he is not decided by bloodline." That sure got Ike's attention.

"Then how do you do it?!" He exclaimed, excited at this new development.

"Simple. First, you denounce your wanting to be President, then, once every four years, the people vote to choose who will lead them for those years. This is Democracy, the majority rules. There is no nobility, all men are born equal and the people chose who they want to be led by. The superior form of regimen." That almost seemed like a stab at Elincia, but to his surprise, she was almost as excited as Ike.

"That… that is genius!" Elincia exclaimed, much to Squall surprise.

"Exactly! This way, you can terminate nobility AND give the people power!" Ike exclaimed as both him and Elincia held both hands in excitement before pulling back awkwardly. Squall just stared wide-eyed. "What's the matter?"

"It's just… usually the monarchs are the ones opposing this change of power. We had been trying for generations before one actually agreed with us and gave us power to create this sort of system. You are saying that you, the ruling monarch are willing to possibly lose your power… willingly?" When Elincia nodded, Yune spoke.

"Yeah, these Airbrethers are special." She said, grabbing Elincia's neck in a way she almost choked.

"_Well, this is unexpected… these guys might actually be different from the rabble…"_Squall deduced with a nigh intangible smile on his features. "Good to know. However there is one question I want to ask Ike." Ike stopped trying to pry the chaotic goddess from Elincia's neck and listened as Squall's tone was dead serious. "How far will your men go for you?" Ike took a few seconds to understand the question but then replied.

"For me? I can't speak for them because I don't know. But for what they believe in? They'll go to hell, tear it apart, and come back for more." He explained, Squall nodding.

"Good answer… we need people like that." The car then suddenly stopped and a disembodied voice said:

"Presidential Residence. Please disembark."

"The Pres is waiting. We can talk when we meet him." Ike and Elincia nodded, pulling Yune out of the "awesome ride" by force as if they were her parents.

* * *

They now found themselves in a simple white room with the most beautiful view of the city coming from its gigantic window on the back, right after the metallic table with what we know as a PC on the side. There was also a tall, leathery chair behind the table. One that seemed to house the President from what they could gather. As it turned, they prepared themselves to give their best formal speech and to discuss things like nobles… how wrong they were.

"WASUUUUUUUUUUP?!" Shouted the raven short-haired man while he jumped from his seat. His attire was everything BUT formal, just a clear blue shirt, white trousers and sandals. "Name's Laguna Loire and I'm the Pres of this small country. Nice to meet you all!"

"I like this guy." Yune whispered as the energetic man left the table and walked up to Squall, putting a hand around his shoulder.

"You met my son Squall I see. He's a bore I know." He said, half-whispering the last part to no success.

"Just cut to the chase Laguna." Squall told him, who faked hurt as he did.

"Why don't you call me Dad?!" Laguna asked, Squall scuffing in response. "Fine! Be that way!" He turned to the group and asked. "You are probably asking yourself why you're here, alone, with me, and not meeting the entirety of the council that runs the Returners, aren't you?" Most of them were about to say no, but Soren agreed.

"Yes. For you to greet us at your residence, alone, it means that there is something that you want with us that is either to be kept off records or…" Laguna interrupted him there.

"Whoa kiddo! There is nothing that I have to hide from the council, they aren't the clichéd evil council of doom and gloom… I picked them when I was elected." That cleared a lot of consciousness. "No. The reason you are here is because I heard that one of you… was chosen by the Wind Crystal, is that correct?" The smile gave birth to a slightly less playful one as he said that, changing the atmosphere quite a bit.

"Yes…" Elincia admitted. Laguna clapped in excitement, back to his old self.

"Gureato!" He exclaimed in fake Japanese accent. "Care to show me?" Elincia nodded and did what she had learned god knows how. Extending her hand, she summoned the smaller version of the Wind Crystal, which covered slightly above her palm. Laguna whistled as he walked around the crystal, first touching it fearfully with one finger before pulling away and then just passing his hand in it. "Whaddaya know… Warriors of Light do exist… We may have a chance after all!" He exclaimed, running to the door. "Come with me! Come on, don't be shy!" And he just ran off. The group looked at each other funny. This was the last kind of person they were expecting. They ran after him and followed him into a room protected by no less than ten guards. As they entered, they found nothing but a panel, one that Laguna quickly ran up to and touched as soon as everyone was in. The ground trembled, sending everyone into alert. Then… they descended.

"An elevator?!" Ashe questioned as they slowly let their guard down.

"Yuppers! What we want is below us… bellow even the city." In a few seconds, the walls began to shine in bright blue. The windows were merely glass.

"Esthar is… floating?" Celes asked, amazed at how, looking up they saw the massive landmass, which was made of metal.

"Yes. We fully constructed the city and its eco-system only to put it right above… that." He pointed downwards, beyond the transparent floor was a structure that became bigger by the second.

"Is that…" Terra began.

"The Water Temple." Locke finished. NOW the group started to put the pieces together.

* * *

They soon arrived at the temple, which was pretty much decadent by now, it was just a VERY old building that, by a magic bubble, was unaffected by the water pressure. Laguna lead the way through the dark halls of the temple for minutes… until a very familiar light appeared in the distance. It was warm… just blue.

"And this… is the Water Crystal." Laguna told them as they entered the room, which was a complete copy of Dalmasca's Crystal Sanctum, just colored the same way as the crystal. Said crystal that began to shine even brighter as the people entered the room. "Which apparently is preeeety quick in choosing people. Well, maybe they are already destined, I don't know. So, who is it?!" He asked. The answer came in the form of the only person that slowly edged closer to the crystal, eyes glassed in strange adoration as the mystical link had been created or simply acknowledged.

The Water Crystal's Warrior of Light was…

* * *

Next Chapter:

The second Warrior of Light is chosen. But what does it all mean? A meeting with the heads of the resistance leads to answers, but also questions, doubt and hope. Meanwhile, two kings struggle to defeat the Justicar… only for help to come from somewhere not only dreams could guess. And what of the forgotten princess?

"_With this… I can finally protect you."_

"_We must find an airship quickly! Seth won't live much longer."_

"_I am here to protect the future!"_

Next Chapter! One Who Would Change the Future.

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Okay guys, I hope I made up for that huge break. You had two chapters in one so don't kill me. :P The next update won't be so far apart and I promise it will be BIG to compensate how small was this one.

Don't forget to review… if only because I was a total prick in the very end of the chapter. Go Cliffhangers! Will you try to guess who it is?! Also, I think it's obvious who is the "One that would change the future" don't ya think?


	14. One Who Would Change the Future

******Author's note:**Okay guys. This is ironic, but I wrote this in two days. Why? Since my father was in the hospital at critical conduction (don't worry, he's better now), I used this fic to escape the stress. This good for you, so don't complain. Also, this fic's B-day is coming up. I WILL update when it comes. So it's two weeks. Is that enough? Please let it be… For now, read on, and there's a scene here that I am not entirely sure if it works, but just read it.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 2: The Leonhart Rebelion**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**************One Who Would Change the Future**

* * *

*Cue FFXII: Boss Battle*

"Your move." Frimelda told the rulers in front of her, taking a stance. Alm and Marth looked at each other in confusion. Was the out-numbered person giving them free reign? Just what WAS she? Still, the Demon Slayer and the Lodestar (which is a really stupid name by the way) charged at the Justicar, with Alm performing a jumping slash while Marth attacked with a stab from the front. "You must be faster than this!" Frimelda exclaimed as she sheathed the Fallen Angel, using only the Save the Queen to blast Alm back with a sideward slash and still block Marth's attack with the side of her pummel. She proceeded to spin around, forcing Marth to use the Shield of Seals to avoid being bisected. "See? Your defense was faster than your offense! Are you not trying to kill me?!" She questioned, catching Marth off-guard.

"Isn't this a non-lethal duel?" The Emperor asked, a look of annoyance forming on Frimelda's face.

"The moment you stop trying to kill your opponent, you are disgracing them. Am I not worthy of your full effort?" She questioned, running into Marth, who even blocking her slash got sent flying backwards, spinning on the ground. "As it stands, you won't even be able to land a scratch on me." As she said it, Alm appeared from behind, slashing at the woman only to have her vanish from his vision, making him miss the slash. Turns out, she only ducked, standing up again to bash the back of her head against Alm's jaw, flooring him instantly. "Come on! Is this what it takes to take down empires in your continents?! You couldn't even beat my father!" She exclaimed.

"Very well… I'll try my absolute hardest." Marth replied, slowly getting up and whipping the blood from his mouth. This brought a smile to Frimelda, especially when both he and Alm charged at her with renewed vigor. This time, they managed to force her to take a more defensive approach, as she blocked the storm of blows that were meant to either mortally wound her or just cut off her vitals. Still, it didn't last long. The gap was beginning to show as she started managing to fit in counter attacks in-between BOTH of their attacks. She could already start to read them.

"It's as I feared…" She said out of nowhere as her blade and body began to glow. "I have yet to find someone who makes my blood boil. Holy Blade!" She chanted, both Marth and Alm gasping as the light that erupted from the slash seared their bodies as well as cause a grand amount of impact, throwing them back like ragdolls. "I toned down the intensity, you should still be able to move… but you lost. Please, leave before I am made to go any further." She told the duo as they struggled to even get on their knees. Suddenly though, she felt something approach from behind and reacted accordingly, catching a glimpse of blue hair as she deflected a blade that had slightly more power behind it than Marth. The ambusher was then surprised by how the High-General pulled out a second sword to strike at it and was forced to give up on the attack to jump away, landing next to both Marth and Alm. "And who might you be?" Frimelda asked, taking a good look at the ambusher.

It was hard to tell if it was a he or a she really, as it was masked, but his clothing was VERY reminiscent of Marth's, the difference being that the chest, arms and legs were protected by a gray and golden plate, two rubies adorning the sides of the chest. His hair was also very reminiscent to Marth's, just shorted and with a tiara, the cloak was pretty much the same. He was wielding a long sword that was simple in design, just a simple silver blade with golden patterns and a hole in the middle of the pummel. He did, however, carry a spear on his back.

"Me? I am the same person you fought moments ago." He replied, his blade hovering over Marth. Frimelda chuckled.

"You are to tell me you are Emperor Marth from the future?" She joked, somehow making the other person tense.

"It seems I have no need for introduction. Have at you!" "Marth" exclaimed, taking Frimelda by surprise, who barely managed to dodge the Falchion with the shock. Her cheek was bleeding due to how close it was.

"General!" A soldier shouted as a squadron approached after the disturbance.

"HOLD!" She ordered, blocking "Marth's" second blow.

"But they broke the…"

"The rules was ME against THEM, in no part of it did I stop them from having back up. And besides…" She began, smiling and catching the Falchion in-between both her blades. "It seems I am still fighting Marth." With a groan, the masked man saw the Falchion being ripped off his hands when Frimelda pressed on it. Still, she wasn't done yet, as the man tried to break up, putting some distance between him and Frimelda, she chased after him and delivered a precise upwards strike. "Or not…" She finished, smiling as she saw what she had expected. The mask broke apart in two halves to reveal not a man, but a young woman. "Care to explain, "Marth"?" Frimelda taunted, even going as far as to walk over to the Falchion, inspect it and throw back at the woman's feet just in time to see her take the restraints off her hair, which now fell onto her shoulders.

"I don't have to explain myself to you… the future is devastated because of people like you!" She exclaimed, grabbing the Falchion and charging at Frimelda again, who just began dodging.

"You are still clinging to that excuse? We already know you are not Marth." She replied, a swift slash from the Fallen Angel throwing the assaulter away as the Falchion flew to Marth's side, leaving the woman with no weapon.

"Believe what you want, that won't change anything. I am here to protect the future!" She exclaimed, this time drawing upon her expertly crafted spear and rushing at Frimelda. She had no idea if the Weapon Triangle applied to dual-swords, but she was going to try anyway it seems.

Frimelda sneered and backflipped away, wondering. _"Is this girl speaking the truth…? She doesn't seem to be lying. Maybe Time Magick really came this far sometime in the future…"_ She then blocked the spear with the Save the Queen and asked. "What is your name then?"

"Lucina." She replied, trading blows with both of Frimelda's swords.

"I'll remember it… when you come back." Frimelda replied, catching the moment Lucina's spear was horizontal to lock it with a pincer maneuver of her blades. "Do not make me break the spear, just quit." She told Lucina, who, no matter how much she tried, could not move the spear from Frimelda's iron grip.

"You do not understand! If I Marth's army goes back today the future will…" She was cut off as Marth and Alm appeared, both of them driving the Falchion on one end of the spear. At first, there was resistance from Frimelda, but then, Lucina swore she saw the Justicar giving a courteous smile as her blades flew out of her hands. The soldiers looked incredulously as Frimelda was now one slash away from losing her neck to Falchion, which was now on her chin.

"It seems I have lost." She said after the long silence, not a hint of disappointment on her voice. "Call back the troops. We shall let them into Ivalice until they do something that can be considered criminal." She ordered as she was left by Marth to go pick up her blades. The victory, so to speak, felt so… hollow. The three members of royalty just watched as Frimelda walked away from the field of battle, only turning when she reached her soldiers to say: "This, despite of how one-sided it would've been on a fair duel, was enough to be interesting. I'll be looking forward for what you can do when next we meet, Lord Marth, Lord Alm… and especially you, oh "Time-Traveler" Lucina." And so, she left, leaving Marth and Alm to look at their new prospect.

* * *

But that'd be too nice of me to introduce her formally now, wouldn't it? For now, we join a pair of princesses and their knights.

"We have to get to an airship fast, Seth isn't going to live for much longer!" Garnet exclaimed as she examined the Paladin's vital signs as they ran.

"Do not fret princess. I have excused the guards from the hangar… I knew I could not say no to thee." Steiner confessed as he lead them to the hangar where the Red Rose was stationed. They arrived there and, true enough, there were no guards or employees in there.

"Thank you Steiner! Now we can…" Garnet began before hearing the door close behind her.

"We can do what Princess Garnet?" An authorization woman's voice questioned from afar.

*Cue: Rose of May*

"B-Be-Beatrix?" Steiner blurted before turning to see just how true his guess was. He was being stared down by the High-General's one eye. Her other eye was covered by a white eye-patch, lost in a long forgotten battle. Her long tailed coat matching her eye-patch, long brown locks of hair giving her both the feeling of superiority while also making her a rose to the eyes… one with thorns.

"The very same. You did not truly believe I would not notice how an entire division of the Knights of Pluto was having a ball in the nearest tavern did you?" Steiner cringed at the thought, cursing that he had not had a better way to conceal it. "Now, let us turn back princess." She told Garnet, completely disregarding the other two. "And you two, come back quietly."

"What makes you think we won't fight for our freedom? After all, you are just one!" Eirika exclaimed, reaching for Sieglinde. Her words were met with nothing but laughter as Steiner and Garnet looked away.

"You'd have more chances trying your luck against one hundred knights, but very well, I will… amuse you." Beatrix told her, reaching for the scabbard on her back and slowly retrieving the continent's second Save the Queen.

"Take care of Seth for me." Eirika told Garnet, who tried to stop her before she got herself killed. It worked, but not as they expected. From the ceiling, there was a whirling noise.

"Aether!" A man exclaimed, falling on top of Beatrix with his sword, much similar, identical even to the Falchion we saw beforehand.

"Who are…" Beatrix asked before he broke away. His hair was blue and he was wearing mostly gray and golden plate armor, with bits of blue on the gauntlets and black trousers, even his left shoulder was encased in it. He wore a white cape with a blue interior and an equally white belt over his shoulder and on his waist.

"Run. Get the airship running!" He ordered the four, who immediately did so as they saw Beatrix charge at the man, who barely parried the blow.

"You are outmatched!" She exclaimed, as the mysterious man was knocked back every one of Beatrix's colossal blows, even if his face was brimming with confidence.

"But you know I am not nearly as outmatched enough to give you time to stop them, am I correct?" He asked, infuriating Beatrix even more.

"Insolent rat! Stock Break!" She swung her sword downwards and the blow's aftershock brutally hit the man, sending him barreling towards the wall of the hangar. Even then, he smiled, as the airship's engines started to heat up.

"Too late…" He told Beatrix, who groaned in fury as the airship took flight just before she could jump on it. And to add insult to injury, something white entered the hangar at full speed as the airship left.

"Lord Chrom!" A girl shouted from the top of the Pegasus as she swooped down to grab the injured man.

"Thank you Sumia." He thanked the exquisitely hair colored young woman before turning." Pray that we meet again Beatrix!" He shouted before vanishing from her sight, following the airship, leaving the 4th tier to howl in fury.

* * *

And now, who do where are we headed? Well, let us just say we are not headed to any specific location…

*Cue: Canto Mortis*

"Ah, Shin, Shin, Shin…" The young man heard, snapping out of his coma into a completely blackened space with nothing but… himself. "You know, you had one job! One purpose, and yet… you still conceived away to twist it all into naught." The man itself was everything like him, except on how he sounded more mature, and had an appearance to match, he looked to be in his thirties. But most of all, his hair was vivid read in contrast to Shin's brown, his eyes golden, while Shin's were the same.

"Who are you… and what're you talking about?!" Shin asked the man as he slowly got back up. "Is this… a dream?" He had the mother of all headaches too. He wondered just what the heck had happened.

"Me? Look at me, who do you think I am? I'm you, you idiot!" The man exclaimed before exasperatedly shaking his head. "And yes, this is your subconscious. Be glad that I spent most of mental power to talk with you." He told Shin before walking away from him, crossing his arms on his back. "Look, I do not blame you for being chosen. If anything, I think this is Cosmos way of being extremely pissy about my "changes", but what can I do? Cid already shut me off from this world in its entirety as a physical body." His ramblings made little to no sense to Shin.

"Chosen? Cosmos? Cid?" He questioned, receiving an annoyed look from the man.

"None of your business. What I am here to say is that you are here to observe. Not to "fix" someone who is supposed to be broken!" He blared, Shin's body trembling at his voice. It was like he "knew" inwardly that this man was someone to be afraid of. Still, Shin was not stupid, he knew exactly what he meant.

"Who're you and what do you want with Terra?!" Shin blared back, trying to ascertain at least some dominance over the situation.

"Ooooh, sharper than I took you credit for. Well, as a reward, I'll keep this short. You either move away from her, or she won't be the only one I'll personally break." He told him, his eye suddenly slitting like one of a reptile.

"Is that a threat?!" Shin exclaimed, running up to the man and punching him, only to hit air as he, and the world around him began to become more and more jumbled with colors.

"It's a statement." He told him in a flat and menacing tone just before Shin lost his consciousness.

* * *

Still, he regained it rather quickly, and, to his relief, without the headache. As his eyes slit open, he realized he was in a room, a high tech, luxurious room so it was probably a suite in one of Esthar's finest hotels… which Laguna paid up a lot if he was to trust Locke. Strange, considering how he was in the… Water Temple right? That was enough to connect the dots for him. He turned his head to the side immediately, and, as he expected, on the table right next to him was a blue crystal shinning dimly.

"So that's what he meant…" He sighed. That also explained why he had passed out. But it still didn't explain a lot of other things… "But why did he want me to stay away from…" He sat up only to feel something on the side of the bed. "Terra…" Ironically, he end to his last sentence and the person responsible for said disturbance were the very same. Terra was sleeping on the side of the bed, sitting in small bench.

"Hm… Oh, you're awake! This is embarrassing, I was here waiting for you to wake up…" She told him as she rubbed the corners of her eyes to shake away the sleepiness.

"How long were you here?" Shin asked her, waiting as she took a look to the outside.

"It's morning so… two days. You really overslept after getting the crystal." She told him, confirming his quite obvious suspicions, but, more importantly, raising his concern levels.

"You sat there for two days?" He asked her, pulling her up by the shoulders and taking a look at her face. Her eyes did show lack of sleep so it all added up.

"Yes… I-I was worried. Sorry…" She told him in a way way too cute for him to admonish.

"Don't be, I just don't want you to overexert yourself that's all." He told her, planting a small kiss on her forehead before getting off the covers, sitting on the bed. "You need energy for what's coming next." He noticed how Terra immediately stopped meeting his eyes as he said that.

"I'd say I have too much energy as of now…" Shin was confused by her confession for a bit before putting two and two together.

"Oh, yeah, it's been almost a week ever since we let you trance for the last time…" He took a hand to his chin and thought to just go for it. "Well, I'm here, want to have a go?" He asked her, who looked back at him with a somber look.

"You just woke up, I don't want to pester you with "that"." It still annoyed Shin just how she referred to her Esper like that, but he decided to leave that aside for now.

"Well, I insist, so please, do it." He said, Terra slowly nodding in return. She wasn't eager to transform, but it made sense. The energy bottled up should be pretty high by now. "Okay, just try and filter it. We'll let it go away by prolonged activation and not a giant explosion of energy, you might lose control of that." She nodded and walked away from the bed. Closing her eyes and instantly changing. "Well, that was fast…" Said Shin, surprised.

"It really wanted to get out…" Terra explained, staying in place, away from Shin as she looked away from her body. Still, for the first time ever since she got released, Shin took a look at her differences intently, mostly to see if she was the "monster" she thought she was and, surprisingly… she found her pretty cute. He was pretty sure at least someone would call him a perverse beast for saying that, but he really stopped giving a damn about most of society said after seeing them endorse the Empire.

"Hey Terra, can you sit over here?" He asked her, tapping the bed by his side. When she shied away, he simply renewed the request till she did. When she finally did so, Shin's first action confused her. He started rubbing her shoulder, the suddenly said. "You're fluffy now." How do you respond to that other than:

"Huh?" Terra blurted. Shin simply had touched her skin to notice how it was covered in a small layer of shinny pinkish fur, hence the strange coloring for the skin. He found rubbing it oddly… enticing. He then took it a step further.

"Can I… hug you?" Again, she was speechless as to how someone wanted to hug "it". Still, she had no saying in the matter as she was already being pulled against his chest. It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable, much the opposite, she was a bit too comfy for her tastes, but that she didn't know WHY he was doing it.

"Shin, you don't have to do this. I can handle it myself!" She exclaimed, pushing him away from her trembling body. "It's bad enough you have to see me like this…" She said, stopping for a few seconds before hearing a large sigh.

"Terra, did it ever cross your mind that I LIKE how you look and feel when you are like that?" She was actually baffled by it. How could he? "This is part of you Terra. You were born with it. Different doesn't mean monstrous. It just means… different." He knew she was going to start demeaning herself again and simply shot her down." You are not the only half-breed in the world. Look at Micaiah. She's half heron. Stefan is half lion. Soren? He's half… something. They were persecuted, yes, but tell me, to people like us, are they all that bad?"

"No! They are such good people…" She shot back, walking right along Shin's plan. "But I change. They don't." She pointed out, to which Shin laughed.

"So you can do MORE things that they can, one of them being something that your boyfriend of three months here just told you he likes, and you STILL complain about it? I see you're going to be hard to please." She knew he was joking, but the way he took her Esper form as normal couldn't help but bring tears to her eyes. "Okay, now can I hug you?" He asked her, only to be tackled himself by a very cuddle happy Esper. "I'll take that as a yes." He said while he started to pass his hand through the back of Terra's head and neck for a minute or two before a very strange sound resounded in his ears. "Did you just… purr?" He asked her while she pulled her head out in surprise.

"It was… instinct." She replied, covering her mouth.

"Well, guess that since Espers ARE animal-like, they do share some characteristics… consider yourself lucky you got the insanely cute ones." He told her, which probably made her blush underneath her new coloration. Still, she didn't feel like another difference weighed on her as deeply as before, which made her even happier to have someone that supported her through it. For what could've been minutes or hours, she just lay there, purring as Shin just cuddled her, until a very… strange impulse came to her. Smiling, she just decided to go with it.

Lick.

"Did you just… lick my cheek?" Shin blurted as he covered the now moist part of his right cheek while looking at Terra's mischievous expression.

"Well, you did imply that I should accept my instincts…" Shin could only smile. Terra teasing someone over her Esper instincts… today had been a good day.

"_I won't let go of this for anything in the world…"_ He told himself, pushing the man's words away. "Well, if that's the case…" He grabbed her shoulders. "Why don't I do the same, huh?" He asked her as he began to pull her in for a kiss.

"How is he Terra?" Someone asked as the door slammed open, stopping the couple just before it happened. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" The teen girl exclaimed, taking two steps backwards after she entered the room. She was wearing a long, violet and a white vest, coupled with a simple brown cape. Her hair came from her only family member, it was blonde.

"Oh, I think he's just fine Tietra. Give him some extra time and we may actually be uncles or somethin'." This man was more mature than even Shin, at least in looks. He wore a leather breastplate combined with a matching waistguard and legguards, armor sprinkled on his arms, neck and legs. His sandy blonde hair was also from his only blood family, his brother.

"Very funny Reks." Shin spat back, suddenly becoming more worried about how Alma's look was fixated on Terra. He was about to interrupt her before she said something that invalidated all his hard work when…

"Terra you look… ADORABLE!" Tietra Heiral, sister of Delita Heiral shouted, tackling her into the bed and laying his worries to rest.

"Hook, line and sinker, isn't it right?" Reks asked him by his ear just after, still teasing him.

"At least I have one." He spat back, leading Reks to playfully admit his defeat with a bit of laughter.

"Point taken." And so, the most of the former family was reunited… if only Alma was here and Delita wasn't a traitor, it would've been just perfect.

"Well, it seems I can call the council, now that you woke up, Warrior of Light." Noctis, a man in a more futuristic set in black clothing, dark hair and red eyes, the one we knew from the Squall training section, said, turning his back at the four and saying: "Just get ready, you have an audition in an hour." He told him coldly, leaving the room. What came after scared Shin. The mirror on the door, it didn't show him. It showed "Him".

"_I warned you…"_ The man said, the image quickly changing back to normal.

* * *

Yeah, that was so intoxicatingly cute I'm in the process of spewing rainbows. I'm scared for Unending. ANYWAY! In the hallways:

"Where is that young man?" Eliwood wondered as he wandered through the glamorous hallways. He was… scared of his room. Let's just say him and the showered didn't have the best of encounters. Half of the bathroom didn't survive and his hair was still moist, heck, he was in his battle armor since his robes were wetter than a rat in a sewer. God, or in this case, the author, answered his pleas of finding the one he was looking for faster than usual. The King of Lycia was… with that one girl he didn't want to see. Or woman? Yeah, she was a woman now.

"I never knew how rough your life was before you met father, he tends to stay away from your subject a lot." Roy told Lyn as they walked side by side, a sad look touching the Blade Lord just before she looked onwards and crossed eyes with Eliwood, stopping in her tracks as Roy kept going. "Still, you should find yourself a husband, I envy the kid that would have you as his mother." He told her before he saw just how her father and Lyn were just staring down on each other. "Oh, you know, I have to go to my wife now, I'll be right back!" He exclaimed as he slithered away.

"Hello… Eliwood." Lyn said, repressing the urge to just rush to him and hug him, or just scold him for having worry so much.

"It's been some time, hasn't it, Lyn?" He asked her weakly, knowing the answer.

"That's because you've been avoiding me." Lyn pointed out, to which Eliwood could just cringe.

"How was your escapade?" Eliwood quickly asked her to change the subject, and how he wished he didn't.

"Eliwood… I saw Hector." She told him, blowing the mind of the Knight Lord.

"**WHAT?!**"

* * *

Shin and Terra were the last ones to reach the meeting room, mostly because Terra's trance still lasted for a good half an hour before it ended. Shin also realized how he had been promoted, probably by the crystal. He had no idea why, but it felt good be third tier, even if it didn't fit any third tier he knew. It was somewhat the same as his last garments, he now just had silver, scale like shoulder pad on his right shoulder that extended down into his hand, same with his left leg, right knee cap and the left forearm. His back now portrayed two smaller dragon wings instead of one and the inner shirt was now pure silver. Still, it felt… incomplete somehow, as if battle was the only thing to be able to show just what this was. Anyway, he paid it no mind for now as they walked in, to be met by tens of council members, senators and the like, all of them sitting in a semi-circular stand while at the end of the room was a giant, horizontal stand where only the "big shots" as Laguna called them were. If they were informed well, from left to right they were:

Princess Sarah of Cornelia taking the place of her sick father, Queen Leena Charlotte Tycoon, Leader of the Resistance Banon, at the center were Laguna Loire and the King of Esthar, King Caelum and then to their right were… follow me on this, Lord Regent of Windurst nation… Shantotto Wildwind. Yes. She wasn't just an elf. To finish it all, Seymour Guado and Ashe.

They? They were resigned to the center of the assembly, not in the viewer stands at the top of all, no, right dab in the middle circle for all to see. Terra tried to vanish behind Shin's back as they walked towards it, even though all looks were on her. If there was something she truly hated was to stand in the middle of crows, in particular ones that were analyzing it thoroughly. Still, there was a silver lining to this. On the center were two people that made her feel a bit safer. Ike and Elincia. So the four stood their ground on the center of it all.

"Very well, now that we are all here, I'd like to call the start of this hearing! We shall discuss four core matters today. Firstly, the Telian reinforcements will state their allegiance and what they can provide us. Secondly, we shall discuss the Warriors of Light. Thirdly, we have miss Branford. And fourthly is something Lady Lyn asked to disclose herself when the time calls. Are we agreed?" King Caelum asked, to which a resounding:

"Hear hear!" Came.

"Understood. Firstly, Sir Ike, what can you and your companions offer us, or better yet, what are your goals?" He asked, to which Ike's response was, as always quick and straight to the point.

"If you are asking us if we want rewards, we do not." He said it, to which the council went silent in surprise.

"Crimea only wants friendship." Elincia assured.

"Daein agrees, and my sister says that Begnion does the same." Micaiah agreed from the stands.

"As Leader of the Bird Laguz, I concur, we have no need for your… "things" that try to murder us with head of their own." A short laughter was permitted at the expense of Tibarn for it.

"As Skrimir's voice… I can vouch for the same. HOWEVER! There is ONE conduction!" Everyone looked at Ranulf, surprised, this was not part of the plan. Ranulf was wearing the most serious expression he ever were, even Ike was scared of what was going on the cats mind. Then… "We want a discount in cat-food." Literally everyone fell of their seats at hearing this. After an agreement, it was Kurthnaga's time to say:

"We just want you to respect our privacy." And after the last ruler spoke, Ike took the word.

"We are here to fight for justice. We ask for nothing other than supplies and healing, a place to rest also. My forces will help you the best we can and when we take Baron, so will the entirety of Tellius." This amazed most of the rulers, especially the sincerity behind it, but not Laguna.

"Knew it! Let's move it to the next topic, this one's settled." Laguna said energetically, to which Shantotto took the lead.

"Yes, yes. Let's concentrate on the ones who can change the direction of this fight. The Warriors of Light." And she still managed to rhyme.

"Well, this one is a newer subject for us, and we can't evaluate is as of now, as the prophecy is to be kept a secret from anyone BUT the warriors and a few others, and as such we just ask this. Will you fight for us?" Caelum, who by the way was a true royal, you could feel the power this man in his fifties had, the honor, everything was in his black suit, short dark hair and matching beard. It reminded Elincia of her uncle.

"I shall. I was to fight in any case, but this crystal…" Elincia summoned the Wind Crystal for all to see. They all marveled in the twisting small tempest of winds that surrounded Elincia as she said it. "It only reinforces how much I am willing to give for it. Everything for what we believe." She assured, but Shin wasn't… so agreeing. He summoned his crystal, water sprouting out of nothing and forming a spinning spectacle of bubbles around him and Terra, who was still half hidden on his back. He took a look back and said:

"I will fight to protect Terra. If she stops here, I will too." Now the reaction was much more negative, everyone that didn't know him personally was ready to jump in and MAKE him join, but a well-placed:

"**SILENCE!**" From King Caelum returned the room to partial silence, only murmurs floating in the wind.

"Shin…" She whispered, trying to change his mind.

"With this I can finally protect you… I won't let you go for anything in this world. You choose where we go." He told her, squeezing her small hand before adding: "But I want you to choose, not choosing it based on me, them or anyone else, are we clear?" Terra thought for a bit before nodding, but she did. Just in time for the first person to talk afterwards.

"Excuse me, but if I may, shouldn't we be discussing the war strategy? Of course "it" will come with us. It does what it is told to." As Terra slowly bit her bottom lip at his speech, trying to stifle tears, someone was about to bow. "We have the Empire's secret weapon on our si-" Bad choice of words Seymour.

"**She's NOT a weapon!**" Quick, think who shouted that! If you thought Shin, it was WRONG. "While I think most of you are good people and for that I am helping you, that doesn't mean I will stand for my friends being insulted like that! Don't make me rethink my statement of nobles and "politicians" as they call some of you not being all snobby good for nothing manipulators!" Ike shouted, once again doing his thing of maybe pissing off the entirety of one of the world's most powerful nation's nobility and their senate, all at the same time. Still, in the middle of the silence, Sarah spoke.

"I agree with this. Terra Branford is a person. She has gone through a lot more than what we can possibly even imagine, and for that a choice is in order. Even if she does chose to live as a citizen, we have taken her away from the Empire of Palamecia, so it is weakened." The blonde, mature woman proclaimed, to which everyone could only stare and agree.

"I think the same. My condolences to you Terra, you have all the right to go, should you choose to." Leena agreed. Ashe nodded from the other side, Laguna smiled, but Shantotto did something more daring.

"Ohohoho! Seems that YOU my good Seymour, are the tool. Maybe you should go learn manners back in school!" BURN! Seymour's face was darker than the Void itself, but every single monarch, politician or anyone really, in the room was either laughing or stifling it, so I think he will think twice before pulling one of these stunts.

"Seems like we have reached an agreement. Terra Branford. I will not lie to you. Your heritage and battle capabilities, along with your figure on the battlefield would be of great value to us, even more so with the Water Crystal, our crystal in tow, but you are a person. You have free will and for that, the right to choice. So now I can only ask: Will you join the Returners?" Caelum questioned, the entire room stopping to laugh and going in complete silence.

It was not an easy decision for the Esperkin. She did not like fighting, that much was certain. She also had spent the last five years of her life with little to no time for herself, restrained of all emotions and even when she had them, she was subject to only experiments or battle training. She hadn't LIVED in five years. And now, she had the chance to get out of all of this, and bring with her someone that cared about her. Yet… it still didn't feel right for her. She squeezed Shin's hand as she tried to reason with herself.

"_It's selfish. I know it is. To leave now, knowing how… unique and important I am no doubt going to affect their chances. Coupling that with taking away the Water Crystal of them, it's almost unbearably so. And I will also be leaving Celes and everyone else to the mercy of fate… they may all die without me there to help them… but all of this, I can ask for it. I deserve it. I know I do, and everyone knows I deserve to choose after all I went through… but… but I…"_

"I won't run away." She said with conviction, taking her hand to her chest, a deep breath and then walking from behind Shin into the center of them. "I could ask for my own personal freedom. I have to right to it. But I am old enough to know what is right and what is wrong, or at last to define them for myself. I won't let Palamecia do to anyone else what it did to me, nor will I allow my friends to die for MY happiness! You need me and I won't deny you from it. Together we can put an end to this cycle of sadness and grief!" None of the politicians seemed to be move at first, but two of them knew Terra, at least somewhat. Ashe and Laguna stood up from their seats and… bowed.

No one else spoke, the only thing that happened was Ike going up to Terra and putting his hand on her shoulder while Shin squeezed her hand carefully.

"It seems we have our answer." Caleum said, nodding. "You have our undying thanks Miss Branford. For now, we will give you some time to rest as we devise our plans. Until then, Lady Lyn, if you may."

On cue, Lyn stood up from the stands and gracefully jumped from them, landing like a feather on the middle of the room. She turned to the rulers and said:

"As you may know… I was instructed by Lord Eliwood to seek my own path in the Empire. I did so and my findings were… disturbing. Let me tell you what led me to, and what I found when I raided Magitek Research Facility."

* * *

Next Chapter:

_Some things are meant to never exist. Some rules are there never to be broken. But in the Magitek Research Facility there are men that play God. Lyn's random encounter with a God General leads her to find a secret that will horrify any that dares to listen._

"_I am Lightning."_

"_What are these monstrosities…?"_

"_Hector?!"_

Next Chapter! The Devil's Laboratory

* * *

******Post-Chapter Note:**Okay guys. Cliffhanger time! Next time, it's a Lyn chapter. She didn't have as much projection as I wanted her too and you know she's been hiding stuff, so here we have it. Yes. Hector. Hec-Freaking-Tor.

Also, how did that fluff go? I'm not used to THIS level of it, but yeah… I really want constructive criticism here. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, leave and review and I'll be back here on the 3rd of May

By the way, if you spoil me Awakening... You are dead to me!


	15. The Devil's Lab

**Author's Note:** Happy Birthday Radiant Fantasy! Whohooo! It's been one year since I've become so bored I made another fic! That and hype for Awakening, which I should get once my pay comes halfway through May! And as promised, here it is! Your present for reading this now year old fic! A new chapter! I'm trying a new narration style for this flashback, so don't feel alarmed.

* * *

******Radiant Fantasy**

******Act 2: The Leonhart Rebelion**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**************The Devil's Lab**

* * *

"_My head was pulsating when my consciousness came back. I had no memory of what had lead me here… but I woke up to the sound of waves. They were so… exotic. I barely had time to listen and smell the ocean in Sacae, so it's needless to say I was immediately entranced by it. This led me to try and sit up quickly, which ended up not being the best of ideas. My back exploded and I darn near lost my vision due to the pain. The back of my head also hurt like hell…"_

"I don't think we should move all that much… that was a pretty big fall." Lyn a woman say, making her slowly lean back on the bed and look at the only door that lead to the room she was in. She took her time to come, so Lyn instead looked around the room. At the time, she had no idea of what most of those things were, you know, country girl on a futuristic environment, but she realized that, wherever she was, it was much more advanced than Lycia or anything in Elibe. The steps of a couple of people growing closer and closer made her just turn back to the door. _"I__ found two women, obviously sisters staring down on me. How would I know this? Their hairs were the exact same color… and a very unusual one at that. Rarely did I see that tint of pink. One of them, the smaller__ one wore a surprised expression, __along with a __red plaid pleated skirt lined with black lace, a white sleeveless dress shirt, a semi-transparent pink sweeper, an extra matching hair tie on her left wrist, black thigh-high stockings, ivory ankle boots, a__nd a bandage on her left bicep. The other one was simply staring daggers at me, __she wore a white overcoat that covered a brown, fully zippered, turtle-neck shirt, which I found really strange, her left shoulder covered by a green pauldron with yellow stripes. She also had the strangest mixture of a cape and a scarf I had seen. Anyway, the arm with the pauldron had a long black sleeve that even covered her hand while the other had two black bracers. Finally, she wore a brown miniskirt and matching boots.__"_

"You're awake already?! I thought you'd only come around in… at least a couple of days." The smaller one said, rushing up to her and checking the Sacaen woman's body. She winced the moment the smaller woman touched her lower back. "Well, you're gonna stay down for a couple of days though. You need some magic to repair those vertebrae. And your head…" She touched it, causing Lyn to cringe."Yup, it's cracked. Let me just go get a better cushion." And she ran off, leaving Lyn to wonder just how she was being so nice to a total stranger. "_I considered myself a kind person, at least kinder than most nobles, but she didn't even ask who I was.__"_

"Serah's too thoughtful sometimes." The older one said, turning to Lyn. "You remember what happened?" She asked, and, even with a jog of memory, Lyndis couldn't remember the last day well enough. "Short-term memory loss was expected. You fell down a cliff yesterday. You're lucky Serah was with me at that moment, else you'd be in a much different place."

"_The way she talked and the expression she made told me just how much she didn't want me here. I knew I was more of an anchor on people as of now so I didn't blame her. My garments and obvious lack of the gadgets I had seen these people have would make anyone that tried to investigate me know I wasn't from "around". And considering how I had been escaping guards ever since my disappearance at the Inn… yeah, in a strictly pragmatic sense, she was right in scorning me."_

"And why is that?" Lyn still asked, needing to assess if she was a danger.

"I am disobeying direct orders from the Emperor by shielding you from them." She told Lyn, reaching inside her shirt and pulling out a large badge. "My name is Lightning Farron. They know me as The Valkyrie. I am God General of the Omega Weapon division, the highest rank for a soldier in this Empire. Yet… I'm shielding a fugitive."

"_My senses went on full alert when she introduced herself, but I really couldn't anything. She seemed to question it, since I didn't even try.__"_

"You're not even going to riposte? Up your guard?" She questioned, to which I answered.

"The Mani Katti and the Sol Katti… they aren't in this room. I don't need to look around to know it, they are close by, but not here. If you are really a God General, with my injuries I cannot fight you so I'll just hope you do not cross me." Lyn told her, seemingly entertaining her as I did.

"Well, I guess my evaluation of you. The way you moved back then when escaping and how you managed to not kill any of the guards, just knocking them out was… impressive to say the least. You are not a normal soldier, whoever you are." She told the Blade Lord, nodding her head. "As long as Serah wants it, I'll leave you here to rest. I can't say no to her after all. However, if you get us in trouble, it's off with your head, got that…?" She asked her, and the tone plus look clued me Lyn. She was serious.

"Lyn." The woman told her to complete her phrase, eying her honestly to make her understand she was fine with it. She nodded and left the room, seemingly satisfied at the response.

"_Moments later, Serah came in and began to treat me. She was a lot nicer than her sister, even going as far as getting my swords back as sign that she trusted me. We chatted for a while, she told me where I was, New Bodhum, one of the very few Empyreal cities near the sea. Since there was barely any space in-between the mountains however, the Empire could not make a port on any of them, so they were little more than glorified villages. After a visit of the local doctor, a nice young girl, if a bit annoying and hyper active, Vannile, I was informed that it'd be a week before I could leave. I was lucky to have found such a tight-lipped group of girls… oh and there was that one guy. Snow, was it? He was HUGE. Hector would be dwarfed by him. It kinda scared me that someone as tall as him was Serah's fiancé… but again, there's Florina, so I see a trend here. Oh, I'm getting sidetracked, am I not?"_

* * *

Six Days Later:

"Lyn? Lyn?" Lyndis slowly started to regain consciousness to the voice of her doctor. "LYNNY!" Okay, that was enough. Lyn almost jumped off the bed, hitting Vannile in the head. "Ouchies…" She whined, falling back on her bum as Lyn leaned on the back of the bed.

"Sorry Vannile… did you need to tell me something?" Lyn asked the pink colored bimbo, who, after another rub, started to bounce her head up and down on a very spastic motion.

"Ya! I scanned your body and you're good to go! I still want to see ya tomorrow mornin', but if you want, you can go along for a stroll with Lightning over there. She wanted to talk to you!" She exclaimed, surprising the heck out of Lyn.

* * *

"_She hadn't even said a word to me on the passing week, so I knew something important was up."_

It was night time when Lyn left the house for the first time, and if Serah was to be believed, that meant obligatory curfew for everyone as monsters lurked in the night. Because of it, nobody saw Lyn as she headed towards the pier, where she found Lightning.

"So… you came." Lightning said, passing by Lyn's side. "Come with me, we can't have you be seen, can we?" She asked, to which Lyn nodded, following to the rocky natural road to the side of the city. "You know why I'm here, don't you?" She asked Lyn, who nodded.

"You are going to assess my intentions." She told her, who nodded. "Don't worry, I know that you may have to try and kill me. I'd rather not have it come to that though…" Lightning opened her eyes slightly in surprise, but chuckled.

"You really are somethin'." She told Lyn, stopping at a rock that overlooked a massive cliff. "You fell from there." She explained, Lyn taking her hands to her mouth. "I know, you're going to say you could have survived such fall. Well, I could not reach you, but I could cast protect on you."

"You… saved my life?!" Lyn asked, Lightning nodding and crossing her arms.

"You were escaping the guards to the Magitek Research Facility." She explicitly told her, dismissing the fact that Lyn was supposed to owe her life to her. "I want to know why. I want to know if I saved a criminal or an innocent accused as such."

"_It was true I had regained most of my memories… but it was still hard. It took me five minutes of concentration."_

"I remember… a scream. A bone chilling one… and I went to investigate. I didn't get far, as you know I was caught and had to run for it, but I had heard a girl screaming. A young woman maybe. But there was something… More. There was another scream. It didn't say anything, but I KNEW that voice. I couldn't put it on anyone, but I KNEW I had heard it several times. That's why." Lyn told her, being completely honest about it all. Lightning also seemed to know just how honest she was, especially when she slowly closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"You left because Eliwood did not trust the Emperor, right?" She asked, since Lyn had told Serah that. Lyn nodded and Lightning sighed. "Sometimes… I think it's too much also." She confessed, looking up to the night's sky.

"What is too much?" Lyn asked, just to prod further.

"Whatever they do inside that facility. One of my companions in the God Generals spends most of her time there. When she leaves… she seems broken. She does have a very tight-knit group of friends that try and hustle her through it, but it makes me wonder… just WHAT happens there?" She questioned, shaking her head again. "And then there's Mateus. I want what he's trying to accomplish. A unified world. But… at what cost? Is he really trying his hardest on negotiations as he says? He never… he seems to be very abrasive. Worse yet, I was called today to take presence on Eliwood's hearing." She told Lyn, who tensed. "I know what you are thinking. Why would he need a God General when he already has Gabranth? Intimidation?" She questioned, turning back at Lyn and stopping her speech for about a minute. "Lyn, I'll let you go. No strings attached. I don't know what you will find, but… I don't even know what I am expecting…"

"I'll try and do what I think its right…" Lyn told her, feeling just how thorn the soldier was.

"I guess that's the best I'll get. I just hope I don't meet you on the other side of the battlefield." And she began walking back to Bodhum. Lyn followed her for a bit, until they were at the entrance and saw how a group of the same guards Lyn had escaped were entering the town. "Stay here. I'll have to ask you to sleep on the wild… if you find somewhere safe. Come to me in the morning. I'll give you a status update before you leave." Lightning told Lyndis, turning to her and extending her hand. "Don't get caught."

"Never." She replied, shaking hands with her… was her an ally? Lightning then started to walk towards the guards… who entered her house. Lyn cringed and found herself a cave to sleep in, killing a couple of stray wolves that assaulted her for an unexpected dinner. She felt… fine. Vannile's magic was good for her to be perfectly fine in less than a week. Even then… she worried about Lightning and the ones that had taken her in. She slept as little as she could, waking up as soon as the sun had risen.

* * *

"_I headed quickly unto the village, happy to see no one had woken up yet. I was worried about those soldiers wanted, and turns out my worries were not without truth."_

"And you're just going to let here ROT there?! Do you have any idea of what is happening in that hellhole?!" That was Snow screaming… He did not look the type of person that screamed a lot.

"No." And that stoic tone was Lightning.

"Exactly! Everyone has heard the cries of pain coming from it! You of all people have seen just how Terra Branford leaves the damn building! She burned a nation's army to the ground! What the HELL did you think they DID to her in there?!" Snow shouted. Of course, he wasn't right about them giving Terra those powers, but in the rest… he was right.

"I don't know, but what they said is true! Serah is not well! How could she have foretold someone would just fall off from a cliff?!" Lightning blared back, the sound a table breaking erupting just then.

"YOU TOLD THEM ABOUT THAT?!" Snow roared.

"Yes. Yes I did. Now get out of my house before I put you out." She heard a large grown and large stomping sounds soon after, but Lightning still had something to say. "Snow. If Serah gets hurt because you tried to concoct a stupid plan to take her from there… I'll kill you and not look back." The worst part? That threat was serious. Soon after, Snow just bolted besides me, not sparing me a single glance. I knew what had happened… and so I entered the house, finding Lightning tying up her gear, preparing to leave.

"Lightning. What happened?" I asked, walking into the room.

"None of your business. They know shit about you, just leave." Lightning told me, trying to walk past the door I was in. I blocked her path.

"Where's Serah?" I asked, receiving a death-glare from the woman.

"Don't pretend you didn't listen to the conversation." She sneered, taking Lyn aback but not stopping her.

"Lightning, I'm in debt to you. I know exactly what are you going to do. And why you are going to do it today before Snow does it anyway. Let me help you." She seemed completely flabbergasted at the offering.

"Why?" She asked, crossing her arms. "Why should I trust you? You can just be in it for the info."

"Now you're just making excuses." Lyn told her.

"Tsk, fine… you can come." She said, shaking her head and rushing out the door, a subtle: "Thanks." Swimming in the breeze.

* * *

"_Lightning only stopped by Vannile's place to have her on the lookout for Snow, stopping him from doing anything rash. It was a three hour walk from New Bhodum to the Magitek Research facility… the cliff was extremely long and so it took us two more hours than normal. Lightning remained silent until we reached a hill near the facility. We had to wait till nightfall to make our move, so we had time to kill. And I had questions to ask."_

"What did Snow mean when he said…"

"What you think he meant. Serah has been having these… visions lately." She explained, shaking her head. "At first I thought they were just dreams. They were small things… like catching big fish that day. Easy enough to shake away. But then she woke up from a nightmare. She told me Baron's army was going to be decimated by a single person. I, of course, just laughed at it. One week later, almost all of Baron's non-elite soldiers were burned alive." Even then, Lyn could not believe Snow was not exaggerating… "I knew something was wrong. And then she predicted you. Guess what, two days later, you fell."

"_That seemed almost surreal. Brammimond levels of surreal. But it was just the truth."_

"So they took her in to…" Lyn asked the soldier, who nodded. "Do you think they'll…" She shrugged, grimacing. It didn't take much to tell Lyn, Lightning wanted to go through this alone, but she now worried for Eliwood. His worst suspicions were slowly becoming founded. "Lightning. Serah saved my life as well. Don't worry, we'll get her out." Lightning seemed to lighten up a bit, but didn't show it as much.

After a thorough investigation of the plant, Lyn and Lightning noticed how the sun was about to set, leading away for the perfect time to strike. First, they took out the front door's guards as soon as they did a guard switch, giving them no time to press the alarm button by assaulting them from above, which gave them about one hour before anyone would notice.

* * *

*Cue: Devil's Lab, FFVI OST*

Then Lightning guided Lyn through the mostly deserted halls of the Magitek research facility. The labs were filled yes, but the hallways themselves were surprisingly easy to thread. Any guard they say, they would either dodge him, or, in extreme circumstances, knock him out and gag him in the nearest storage room.

The laboratory's first floor was nothing too special. It was steampunkish and metal filled, colors of dark yellow and brown abounding on the metals. The experiments inside the labs also didn't seem that bad, they were simply machinations Lyn had no business understanding. However… after knocking out a couple of guards and rushing to the second level, Lyn and Lightning came to an abrupt stop.

"W-What are these monstrosities?!" Lyn couldn't help but yelp, quickly being grabbed and pulled into a corner by Lightning, letting two scientists pass by. "Lightning, did you know about these?!" She questioned, receiving a negative shake from the shocked soldier.

"_I could not believe what we were witnessing. Test tubes upon test tubes were on the walls, from such a big floor that required two levels, and on each of them were different kinds of monsters or worse… humans. Or things very similar to them as they were all seemingly made of pure crystal. To my surprise, Lightning seemed as disgusted as me. And to our disadvantage… it was also were most if not all of the scientists were stationed. This certainly shed a new light on just how… twisted the Empire could be. Lightning even seemed to be taking it harder than me."_

"The amount of people in this floor is just staggering. Almost like they are using the regular floor as a cover-up." Lightning cringed, hitting a wall with her fist in rage, almost compromising our position.

"Lightning… we need to move." Lyndis told here, shaking her arm. The Valkyrie seemed to sigh angrily and turned to her.

"You are right. We don't have much time. Let's take the air vents… we'll be spotted in no time if we take anything else." She told Lyn, who had already been expecting it. Kicking in a nearby air vent, she followed Lightning, who had explained exactly an air vent was. These air vents were big enough for them to walk around crouching. They did however, possess a laser alarm from time to time, which both Lightning and Lyn found no problem with walking over. They walked for some minutes before reaching one of the vent exists, where they head two scientists talk.

"So… the "seeress". Where is she stationed?" One questioned, clueing the soldier duo in.

"Just a few rooms from here. Just after the freak's room." He told, confusing Lyn but telling Lightning who they were talking about.

"Shhh! Don't call her that! Lord Kefka came to visit… He'll burn you alive!" Lightning's fist clutched and her teeth clattered.

"Fine, fine. Let's just get back to the Manikins."

"We're screwed… if we get caught by him there's no escape." He told Lyn, who looked at her with curiosity. "Kefka's the Emperor's right hand man. He's rumored to be a mage on a God General level or even above. No one really survived seeing him fight, since he doesn't care for allies or enemies… but that speaks for itself. We have to move carefully… only a few more meters to go." As disgusted as Lyn was… she was about to get more. It wasn't long until she heard the exact same scream she heard a week ago. They were also just above an air vent, so she could see the room bellow. What she saw…

"You stay away from her!" She didn't know the man at the time, what she saw was a young man in his late teens stand in the middle of a man dressed up as a clown and a girl also in her late teens that could only cover herself with her sheets. And even then, the obvious lacerations on her arms were showing (which is mostly why she wears gloves today).

"Oh c'mon, it's not like it's the first time it anything! It's just the first time with someone watching! You can leave if ya want, it won't take more than a few minutes, I'm kinda tired anyway." The man in the clown suit said.

"Is he…" Lyn began.

"That bastard is as big of a monster as they say…" Lightning sneered as she looked on.

"It's not the…" The teen seemed to look backwards at the girl, who hid her head in between her arms in shame. "You… monster." He spat hatefully, reaching for his sword only to be slammed into the wall by a magic pulse.

"Now now, don't make me have to explain to Orlandeu how I somehow found the guts of one of his star pupils spilled all over my kitten's room. We all know how she can be when out of control… it'd be an unfortunate casualty, wouldn't it?" He asked, releasing the pulse and leaving the boy to fall with his back to the wall. "Well, you could always do it yourself." It took all of Lyn's willpower to not just kick open the air vent and begin wailing on the clown. "Don't look at me with that defiance boy. I won't interfere. I'll just watch. Changes the pace a bit."

"I'd rather kill myself than enter your sick games." The boy told him, drawing his sword, only to have it be blasted off his hand.

"Oh, don't worry… if you don't do it, I'll just kill ya and do it myself. And c'mon, she's a solid 8 at least, depending on the tastes she could even score a 10. You're not losing anything." Kefka told the kid, who seemed to be at a complete loss what to do.

"Leave him out of this Kefka! You just want me!" The girl suddenly cried, tears all over her sunken eyes and bloodied lips.

"That's so five minutes ago. I'm into the watching game now." He told her, dismissing any and all pleas of mercy after it. "So… what is it? I don't have all day."

"Lightning… run to Serah and get her out of here." Lyn told her, stopping her from saying anything more. "They can't see you, if they do you'll be branded a traitor. I'll draw their fire. If they capture me… just escape." Before Lightning could say anything more, Lyn put her hand through the laser alarm stuck her sword through the ceiling, instantly stopping whatever was going to happen bellow.

"If you get caught I'll do my best to fake an escape for you." She told her, running away to find her sister.

"_Thank you Lightning… now to draw attention away from her."_

"Okay, seriously, I'm getting seriously irritated now!" Kefka shouted, blowing up the air vent's window as the alarm resounded.. Lyn quickly ran the other way. "You get off easy this time! I'll go find something to blow up!" She heard the clown yell, smiling all the way.

"Level-2 breached! All personal out of the corridors! Those outdoors will be shot down on sight!" She heard a robotic voice yell as she rushed as far as she could before jumping down on the last possible vent.

* * *

"_This is where my tale becomes… necessary for our war efforts. What I found in that room were only little more than a handful of test tubes, but they all housed a different person. I did now know much about them, I only knew Sigrud and…"_

"Hector?!" Lyn gasped as she saw the split image of the Great Lord… just in his golden days. The muscled short dark blue haired man floated on one of the test tubes. Suddenly, she was reminded of the scream she had heard. "It was… you. What are these people doing?!" She questioned herself as the door opened behind her.

"Halt!" She heard from behind. Turning, she found a female in light blue armor, feathered helmet protecting her helmet and a white skirt pointing a pure white thin blade in her direction. "Who are thou?!"

"Tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine." Lyn said, backing away. She was sure she was a part of Lightning's division, but she needed to buy time.

"Second in command to the Omega Weapon division, Lenneth Valkyrie. Again. Who art thou?!" It was by that time that Lyn knew she had no choice. She slowly reached for the Sol Katti, and saw how the woman took battle posture.

"Lyndis of Sacae. I know you won't just let me go so… have at you!" She exclaimed, whipping out her sword and adopting her pose, both women waiting for a flaw in their defenses.

* * *

Lightning fell from the air vent above Serah's confinement chamber, delivering a spinning kick to both scientists that were taking notes of the sleeping and weakened young woman.

"Serah… Serah!" She called, getting no response. "Damn! I'll just have to…" She heard the door open, turning to see a woman with an identical armor than what we had described, just in tones of beige, pointing the arrow of a bow unto her.

"Commander… please tell me this isn't what it looks like." The woman asked Lightning, who simply sighed, reaching for her Gunblade at the back. The rope tensed. "I'll shoot!"

"Silmeria… you can't hit me. If it was your older sister, I'd be more worried, but… don't make me do this." She told her, drawing her sword faster than her subordinate could fire, deflecting the incoming arrow and clashing with the bow with her blade. "Stand down Silmeria!" She exclaimed, pushing her backwards. The Valkyrie took a deep breath and seemed to accept it, letting herself be hurled harshly against the wall, either fainting or pretending to do so.

"C-Claire?" She heard a voice meekly call. Acknowledging what she was here to do, Lighting ran up to her sister.

"I'm here to get you out Serah… just hold on." She whispered to her sister, slowly cradling her and getting her on a piggyback.

"C-Claire… You didn't have to…" She began, but Lightning shut her hope.

"Don't be stupid. I'm your only family. Let's go!" She exclaimed, jumping into the air vents and rushing towards the exit.

* * *

"_She's fast…"_ Lyn thought as she spun around with her sword, meeting nothing as Lenneth had gracefully leaped over her, creating a spear of light with her hand and hurling it against the Blade Lord. _"And she can use magic?! What class is she?!"_ She wondered, leaving her position so fast that it seemed that she had been pierced, but it was only an after image. "Got you!" She exclaimed, appearing above Lenneth in-midair, slipping forward and swinging her sword downwards.

"Slow!" She exclaimed, countering with a crescent strike that clashed with Lyn's sending them both backwards, landing safely.

"_This is bad… My body is still slow… I can see her movements, but I can't react fast enough."_ Lyn told herself, knowing that being bed-ridden for a week would have easily destroyed her physique. The situation just got worse though.

"What is this?! What is an intruder doing in the Manikin de-crystallization chamber?!" A man in a white lab coat, black hair and glasses screeched.

"Sir Hojo I can explain!" Lenneth tried to say, but the man was relentless.

"I don't need explanations! I need results! LYON!" He roared, a man in a violet robe and equally matching but lighter hair appearing by his side.

*Cue: The Prince's Despair*

"Yes, my master?" He questioned, his eyes void of any emotion.

"Destroy her!" He screamed, causing Lyn to go into a defensive stance, for all it served…

"Very well… Nagflar!" The dark mage bellowed, dark lightning falling from the heavens, piercing the ceiling and barely missing Lyn and Lenneth. However, that was the least of it, as dark energy congregated into the middle of the room, exploding into a dark twister so powerful Lyn and Lenneth hit the walls several times before being hurled all the way out of the facility by the holes the lightning had created.

"Good… now the guards will take care of them. Come along my pet."

* * *

"Light? LIGHT!" Lightning heard Snow shout the moment she stepped foot out of the facility.

"How did I know…" She sighed, instantly grabbing Serah bridal style and giving her to the man to in front of her. "Take her and run. I have unfinished business." Snow raised his concerns, or tried to at least, but Lightning shot him down by pointing him the direction he had to go and… he had to obey. She watched over them until they vanished into the dark, for when they did, she would reenter the facility as "a God General intent on assessing the situation" and save Lyn. However… these were just plans.

"Well, well, well. I must say that I am surprised, _Claire_. I did not expect you so soon…" Lightning froze at the voice behind her. The man's tone was both mocking, eloquent and maniacal. "And why are you here? Were you on your way to visit your sister? Quite early for that, is it not? Better yet, I don't recall allowing any visitors for at least a week. And I'd know… I AM the Head-Chief of the Empire's Research Department…" He was toying with her, Lightning knew it.

"Stop playing with me Lezard. Are you here to rat me out?" Lightning asked, turning to see no one. Moments later, a hand touched her shoulder from behind, a sharp turn leaving her face to face with one of the three maniacs that headed the research. His hair was brown and somewhat bowled, he wore a pair of round glasses, a green over shirt with a brown shirt beneath, brown trousers and a black Cape. He adjusted the glasses for a moment and asked.

"Well, that would depend my dear Valkyrie. You see, someone has seen too much. True, you now know we can produce Manikins… but you are easy to chain. The girl from another continent? Not so much. If she… disappears… I may ignore this small misunderstanding of us… if not, well, I could play a game of hide and seek with your dear little sister. I warn you though, I am quite good at it." The man explained, chuckling evilly. Lightning had nowhere to go. She had been caught. Trapped. What could she say or do to reverse the situation? She wasn't even sure she could TAKE Lezard, much less defeat him without anyone's attention.

"Why would you cover up a would-be-traitor? Why should I trust you?" She asked him back, to which the man laughed and laughed.

"Oh dear, I have my own reasons, which I'll keep as my own. And to answer your second question… you should not." He was so honest about it Lightning couldn't help but feel like a mouse trapped with a lion on a room. The man then proceeded to somehow summon the saber she used as a Valkyrie, the Omega Weapon, and extended it to her. "Now… would you kindly?" He asked… more like ordered. Lightning had no choice. She took the blade from him and felt her clothing change to the Valkyrian armor she always wore in battle. With that in mind, she turned to the explosion that occurred that very moment and dashed towards it.

* * *

"_I had to thank Lady Luck that day. For when I came too after the blast, my opponent that had flown with me was still unconscious. Shame is, to black the rocks that came with the wind, I had to use my blade… which after weeks of non-stop use and no care, had cracked under the pressure of the blast."_

"Sol… Don't worry, I'll get you to a blacksmith soon." Lyn told her sword, slowly making herself stand back up. She looked around and tried to find the best path of escape. They were on a mountain path… but she heard a stream nearby. Following her hearing, she slowly made her way towards it. In a matter of minutes, she had the river in sight.

"Great… now to follow it. Jumping on it is an option… but I'd rather not." She told herself, the bristling of a brush revealing the position of someone else. "Who goes there?!" She asked, drawing the Sol Katti out of mistake. She wasn't about to sheath it and draw the Mani Katti… that would take too much time. "Oh, it's you. Is Serah safe?" She asked Lightning. She knew something was amiss though. Her expression was cold, and that change of getup made her look much like the woman that had attacked her… she felt uneasy.

"Well, that would depend. Are you?" Lightning asked, drawing her sword. Lyn knew immediately what she meant and took a fighting stance, no matter how much her body cried out to stop.

"Lightning… just what are you fighting for?" Lyn asked her. Lightning seemed to be in no mood for games though, as she grabbed her blade with both hands, closed her eyes and muttered an incantation that covered the sword in a blazing light. Moments later, Lightning untangled two curved blades massive curved blades from it. And in a flash… she vanished.

"Zantetsuken!" Lyn saw two blades coming towards her at a speed so great she knew she no chance to dodge. In one desperate try to survive, she put her Sol Katti in the way. Moments later, half of her blade flew right next to her right check, wounding it before falling down a trench. "You are defeated." Lightning told Lyn, enclosing her neck in-between the curves of the dual blades. "Any last words?" She asked.

"Yes. Just answer my question… Claire." The Blade Lord asked the Valkyrie. She cringed and they were left to trade stares for a few minutes, after which a voice came.

"Madam Lightning, where art thou?" A woman's voice called, the sound of multiple footsteps filling the air. The woman in question took another hard look onto Lyn and shouted:

"The enemy has been slain and I am well!" With that, she removed her blades and helped Lyn onto her feet. "This is my answer." She whispered in her ear right before she kicked in into the river behind her. "I reap what I sow. And I just sew the only seed I could."

* * *

Back at the council room:

"This… is most disturbing news." King Caelum said, shaking his head. "These "Manikins"… is it possible that they are somehow creating soldiers? Even somehow rousing the dead?" He questioned, to which Lyn had no answers. Eliwood couldn't believe that Hector was there… or something resembling him.

"Look at the bright side. At least we now know that Lightning can be turned to our side. She doesn't seem evil, or even loyal to them. We just… have to find Serah before they do." Ike pointed out, at least someone could make some good of the situation. But still… the prospect of having to fight against the living dead FAR outweighed anything he could put out. He feared the council was going to fall apart due to the newfound threat, but a timely entrance of a courier changed it all.

"Sir! We got a message form a nearing Airship! It's an Alexandrian flagship! The Red Rose to be exact!" He exclaimed, all those that lived in Fantasia gasping in shock.

"Who is the commander?!" Caelum asked, the answer even baffling them more.

"Princess Garnet Till Alexandros."

* * *

Next Chapter:

Princess from an enemy country, accompanied by a princess of an unknown one and someone who calls himself a king… of a future kingdom. Three pivotal figures enter the picture just before the painting has been burned. With the light of hope kindled, our heroes prepare.

"_My mother is not herself."_

"_You can find nothing but allies in Magvel."_

"_Our target is Ivalice!"_

Next Time: The Rebellion Awakens

* * *

Profiles:

**Lightning Farron**

Valkyrie, Level 26

**Lenneth Valkyrie**

Valkyrie, Level 24

**Silmeria Valkyrie**

Valkyrie, Level 20

**Lyon**

Necromancer, Level 20

**Zack Fair**

SOLDIER, Level 27

**Chrom**

Master Lord, Level 25

**Lucina**

Master Lord, Level 22

**Marth**

Lodestar (Retarded name… also counts as third tier here), Level 20

**Alm**

Dread Fighter, Level 20

That's all for now!

* * *

**Post-Chapter Note:** So… what did you think? Did I actually… make Lightning not a total bitch? I… think I may have done it. She… didn't feel painful to write. What have I DONE?! Anyway, this provided both insight with how this ties with Dissidia, and if you read Unending *Subliminal Messages* or played Dissidia you know what I meant by Manikins. Also, yeah. Broctor is "kinda" back. And Lyon's "kinda" back. Prepare yourselves for drama!

**PS:** All that Kefka implied is as twisted as your first thoughts. No. There's no other way to put it. It was "that".

**PSS:** What better way to celebrate Radiant's B-Day than with some reviews? Come on, Come all! Leave your thoughts and happy B-day wishes right below, it won't hurt.


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